Resident Evil: Finding Our Answers
by Desertcross4
Summary: Some will go to great lengths for answers. After tragedies, they are needed. Death, betrayals, answers need to be found. At any cost... A sequel to Resident Evil: PON RXR.
1. Finding the Way to Evil

Well, in general fashion, I've begun to distract myself from what I'm supposed to be doing and wrote a prologue to a sort of sequel to events in my last completed fanfiction: Resident Evil: The Price of Normalcy. Before reading, please take note that I will not explain the main character's past, because explaining it would take up a few chapters and is horrendously tedious on both mine and the reader's part. However, I will give you a glimpse of who this person is, and why this has absolutely anything to do with The Price of Normalcy, but if you can already guess who the main character is after reading just this chapter, then way to go. The mystery character is very much different from Isaac, definitely. So Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Hell, I WISH I owned Resident Evil. If I owned it there'd be a Resident Evil Six where the main characters are Jill and Claire. The **hottest** asskicking video game characters EVAR! But alas...I do not, so I'll have to wait and see.

**(Prologue)**

_I stared with suspiscious eyes at the crimson-clad asian woman. I hated the man she worked for, so why was she here? She sat with her legs crossed on the dusty little couch, staring at me through her indigo shades. I stared back, my black shades masking the unbridled, negative emotion in my eyes. _

_"I don't want to hurt Ashley, and I want out of his whole plan. You're the answer to all my problems." I scoffed._

_"You think I care? Three years and eight months ago you held a gun to my head and nearly shot me, now you're asking for my help?" I laughed. "I'm not going to do it for mere selfishness, much less the selfishness of someone such as yourself, Ms. Wong." _

_"I just don't want the agent that America is sending to get hurt. So I was thinking that you and your friends..." She said quietly._

_"No...if I take this job, I will take it alone, but who is this agent they're sending?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me._

_"The president's bodyguard, Leon Scott Kennedy..." She replied. My eyes widened just barely at the mention of that name. The news was rife with all his accomplishments, from finding and closing down an Umbrella Research Facility on a mediterranean island, to his televised rantings about Umbrella._

_"That man...from Raccoon City..." I said, brushing a strand of spiked black hair away from my eyes. All the possibilities of finding that lost person seemed to flow into my head. Red hair...forest green eyes. Maybe I could find the answers I've been looking for._

_"Yes. He was one of the survivors of that incident..." She replied. I nodded in understanding._

_"Fine...I'll do it...but not for you. There are things I want that man to tell me..." I said to her. She seemed to smile in cool elation, and for what I did not ask._

_"I can fly you to whereLeonis goingtoday. Go home and pack your best firearms." She said in warning. I nodded._

That was about twelve hours ago, give or take the time zone change. As I stared into the gray, bare foliage from the car Ada had given to me and reminisced about how I had ever agreed to do this, I came to a stop in front of a broken rope bridge that hung precariously down a wide crevasse. Cursing in anger, I stopped the jeep and turned off the engine. I got out, hearing the sound of rushing water and dead leaves crunching underneath my shoes. Tufts of smoke rose into the air from the bottom of the cliff like hands reaching up into the heavens, and at the bottom of said cliff rested a destroyed jeep and old farming truck circa nineteen forty two. A few seconds passed, consisting of staring at the wreckage and wondering if anyone was alive, and a bleeding, battered body crawled out from the windshield of the old farming truck.

Startled and surprised by the fact that someone actually survived, I grabbed the snapped rope of the suspension bridge and hopped over the edge, my gloved hand lightly holding onto the rope, ready to stop myself. Anyone who looked at me would have never thought I could do half the things I could do. I worked hard to be able to do some of the things I do. I stopped my descent just as I neared the ground, then let go of the rope and let my feet hit solid ground. I looked at the battered body that had crawled its way out of the truck and nearly looked away in disgust.

"Are you alright?" I walked closer to the body, overalls and cotton shirt drenched in blood, the coppery stench hitting my nose and causing it to wrinkle in disgust. He got back up, wobbling on broken bones, reaching back and producing a small hatchet and lifted it up above his head, advancing on me. I quickly stepped back and pulled out my handgun, training it on the man. "Don't move..." I warned. The man still hobbled forward, hatchet still raised. Clicking my tongue in annoyance I pointed my gun downwards and fired at his knee, the man yelping and grabbing the injured joint. He looked up at me and suddenly walked forward as if he hadn't been shot in the kneecap, picking up his dropped hatchet and walking forward, murmuring in Spanish.

Confused, I pointed at his head and fired, pieces of bone and flesh spraying backwards into the small river we were standing in. I watched as the man staggered back, then kept advancing. My eyes widened. What was going on? Cursing, I fired another shot at the man's right kneecap, the man yelping and grabbing it in pain. In a flash I was right in front of him and slammed my foot into the man's chest, the obviously inhuman attacker flying backwards and hitting a particularly large rock jutting out from the water, the rest of his head cracking open. I watched as the body twitched, then lay still.

I stared at the body as the rushing water flowed around my black leather shoes, contemplating what had just happened. That body was in a car crash, fell down quite a few feet off a cliff, broke almost every limb, and still managed to get up and attack me. Something wasn't right...

**(End Prologue)**

I'll have to thank Tinkies, noctorro, HHOD, and DemonDoor for being such awesome people and giving this lackluster writer a boost in confidence. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little beginning of mine. I must ask that you read and review. They're like Pocky to me. I lurve the Pocky!


	2. Finding a New Life

Okay. Here's the second chapter, and I'm feeling more and more confident in my own work. Once again, I still haven't revealed who the main character is, but soon enough, I will. It probably won't shock you, but it will for Isaac (once I get to that damn part...). I've also had the chance to make myself a more organized writer. I know, it seems impossible, but I am. I've gotten my life back in order, even though I am angry at one of my english teachers for giving a _very_ personal thing I wrote for an assignment to my damn school's yearbook. I'm actually tackling a few things, except for a damn job. Dammit. That sucks.

And to my reviewers...

Tinkies: You know...you're the first person to actually follow all the stories I've ever written. I feel so great whenever you review. Your reviews always make me feel so much better about my sub-par writing. I hope I can retain your support, because I like good reviews. Thank you.

Blackzilla1: Thanks. Wait no more, buddy. I hope to see more of your nice reviews.

Disclaimer: Hell, I WISH I owned Resident Evil. If I owned it there'd be a Resident Evil Six where the main characters are Jill and Claire. The **hottest** asskicking video game characters EVAR! But alas...I do not, so I'll have to wait and see.

**(Chapter 1)**

_What was that?_

"No time to think about that...Got to climb this cliff to get to the other side." I said to myself out loud. Returning my handgun to its holster, I grabbed the conveniently long rope that had been created when the suspension bridge had broken, and began to pull myself up. Hauling myself onto sturdy ground, I checked that everything I had brought was still properly secured to my person. I walked down the path that seemed to be regularly used and came across a large wood cabin, and bodies strewn across the lawn as if a battle had occurred here. Shaking my head, I continued on, keeping note of the sudden rustle of leaves nearby. Eyes were following me.

Following the path spared from the onslaught of fallen leaves, I came to another bridge and saw a white wolf whimpering as a bear trap dug it's teeth into the wolf's hind leg. I froze when the wolf seemed to stare into my eyes, almost predatory, almost pleadingly. I walked up beside it, staring into its amber eyes with pure softness. Something in its eyes changed when I stared at it, and it looked at the bear trap that was currently keeping it from moving. I extended my hand to its snout, the wolf sniffing at it before giving it a few tentative licks. I smiled, and moved my hands to the trap, pushing it down and freeing the canine. It limped free of its confines, then sat in front of me, staring at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked, as if it could understand my words. It gave an expectant bark, then sat there still. I stared at it for a moment before walking past it. It limped after me, and barked. I turned to the wolf. "What? You want to go with me?" I asked. It barked proudly. I smiled and nodded, holding out my hand for the beast to nuzzle. "I think I'll call you Pirate." I said to it. It barked almost happily then half trotted, half limped around me. I laughed and bent down again, looking at it's injured leg. I reached into one of my side packs and pulled out a roll of bandages and looked inside my weapons bag. In one of the side packs was a can of first aid spray. I read the label, seeing that it also worked on canines and felines. "Pirate...hold still..." I said, holding it's injured leg in place. I shook the can of aerosol spray and held it to the wound, spraying the medicine onto it.

Pirate yelped in pain, but made no effort to get away. What was going on with this wolf? It almost seemed human with it's understanding of my words. After I was finished, I wrapped the leg in gauze to help it heal. Satisfied, I stood back up and nodded. "Okay. Let's go, Pirate..." I said to it. It barked, then slowly followed me as I crept along with my gun ready. Suddenly a body emerged from a hut nearby, the woman in a dress brandishing a large butcher knife. Pirate growled, and my eyes automatically narrowed. She screeched in Spanish, running toward me and swiping at my chest with the knife. I stepped back, then fired at her leg. She bent down, holding her pained leg. Suddenly Pirate barked and lunged, sinking his razor sharp fangs into her throat and gnawing at it. Suddenly there was a snapping noise, and the woman went limp. Pirate had crunched through the woman's spine.

I smiled down at him, and the beast licked its lips, the woman's blood staining the fur around his mouth. "You're more useful than I thought, Pirate...come on...we have to catch up to Leon and make sure he isn't dead." I said, jogging through the forest with Pirate hot on my trail. Passing various bodies, Pirate and I came to a stop in front of a large steel gate decorated with a sort of insignia of an insect like creature. Thinking nothing of the insignia, I pushed the gate open and held it for Pirate to go through, then passed through the gate myself.

Silently jogging along the path, I stopped Pirate when I caught sight of a small village with dilapidated houses, and a bunch of villagers trying to get into one particular house. They had also raised a ladder, breaking through the window on the second floor. Hissing, I quickly aimed my handgun at the legs of the wooden ladder and fired, wood and splinters flying as the bullet drove itself into the legs of the ladder. Suddenly the ladder snapped, causing the villagers that had been climbing it to fall in a heap, some breaking their necks and lying limp on the ground. Suddenly one villager turned to Pirate and I, pointing and screaming something undecipherable. Suddenly some villagers turned and headed for Pirate and I, weapons brandished.

I began to fire my gun, bullets ripping through bodies as Pirate rushed forward and distracted the villagers. I ran after the wolf, pulling in villagers and twisting their heads around. I kicked at another villager, knocking him into another group that was on their way to attack me. My ears tweaked when I heard the telltale roar of a chainsaw. "Pirate!" I called. The wolf barked from within the crowd of villagers and knocked through them as he bounded along beside me. I picked up the wolf; putting him under one arm and climbing up a ladder. Once we were high enough, I hauled Pirate onto the roof of the house, then climbed onto the roof as well, kicking the ladder down. I quickly searched through my weapons bag, pulling out a large incendiary grenade. Pulling the pin, I threw it to the ground in between the crowd of villagers and waiting. Suddenly there was an explosion, and flames shot up from among the villagers.

There were screams of agony as the villagers caught on fire, and they quickly dispersed. Some dropped to the ground, twitching as the flames burned their bodies. Suddenly all the villagers stopped, and everything fell silent as a sound resonated from the church. They all dropped their weapons, and collectively walked into the church, as if entranced. Suddenly the door to the cabin they had been trying so desperately to enter burst open, and a lean blonde man walked out, looking confused. Pirate and I quickly leapt off the opposite side of the house. Ada made it clear that I was supposed to just be in the background. I couldn't let the man see me.

We began to sneak around, trying to find a way to get to the next area unnoticed by Leon. I heard Pirate growling, and turned my head to the animal. He was growling at something in the woods, unseen by my human eyes. I trained my gun on where Pirate was growling, and heard some sort of rustling noise before Pirate calmed down somewhat.

"What was that all about, boy?" I asked. He whimpered up at me, before I motioned for him to follow me. Suddenly the communicator Ada had given to me went off. I put it to my ear and pressed the receive button.

"Are you all right? Did you get here all right?" Ada's voice said.

"Yeah...but the villagers are acting a little weird." I told her.

"They're hostile to outsiders." She replied simply.

"Obviously...anyway, where am I going? I've lost track of Leon." I said to her.

"Find a large tower and follow the path beside it. It should lead you closer to the church where Leon is heading." She answered, obviously in a safe place.

"All right. Over and out..." I replied, turning off the radio. I hooked it back onto my belt and moved forward, heading toward the hard to miss tower near the church. Pirate trotted beside me, the limp almost completely gone. Passing more ugly, half broken huts Pirate and I passed through another gate and found ourselves in a more isolated part of the village. White barns with the pain peeling off of it, and in the windows I could see just enough movement to let me know that someone was there. Walking cautiously, Pirate and I made our way around the barns and farmhouses. Suddenly a deep voice yelled out in Spanish, alerting Pirate and I that our position was given away. We turned to where the voice came from and saw three villagers running towards me. Suddenly Pirate bounded forward, pouncing on one villager and gnawing at his face while I shot the other two to give the wolf time to snap the man's spine.

While Pirate was busy killing the one villager, I quickly ran up to the ones I had shot and punched one in the face, quickly spinning and slamming my foot into the side of his face, knocking the man to the ground. I turned to the other one and smacked him with the back of my hand, then firing a bullet into the back of his head from close range, the blast knocking him forward. Bending down, I grabbed one of the villagers by the head and twisted it sharply. The impending snap was loud and pronounced, and the body went limp as I dropped it to the ground. Turning to the other, I slammed my foot straight down onto his jaw, the bone breaking and jutting violently into the spine. Twitching, the body fell limp as I put a bullet right into the middle of the man's throat. I turned to Pirate, who had long killed his prey and was feeding on the flesh of the man.

"Come on, boy." I called. It looked at me, then left it's prey and followed obediently. Something about this wolf wasn't right. Why was it following me? Why did it respond to everything I said, to everything I motioned? Why did it fight the villagers as if it was fearless? I stared into the wolf's eyes, the wolf staring back just as intensely. Suddenly my stare was interrupted when Pirate's pink tongue swiped my cheek playfully. Sputtering and laughing, I patted the wolf's head and got back up. Walking forward, Pirate and I came across a half-broken fence that led to another large gate. Sidling through, and watching Pirate as he just barely slipped through the gap in the fence, then walking up the path to the gate and pushing it open.

On the other side, Pirate and I found ourselves in another area of the village. Upon first sight, I had spotted tripwire in a broken open hut, then a bunch of bodies lying around, dead. Leon had been here. Walking carefully with Pirate beside me, we saw a wooden door broken down and the room inside half-exploded. Suddenly I heard a twig snap behind me, turning around just in time to see a large bearded man in a trench coat swing his hand and send me flying. I hit the wall hard, sliding back to the ground half conscious. Dazed, I could hear them speak in warbling Spanish, and see them standing over me and Pirate before turning and walking away. Afterwards, I fell to my side, unconscious.

**(End Chapter 1)**

Once again. I love reviews. Even if they aren't ones of praise. I know I'm not that great of a writer, and that sometimes my characters are a little too flat, but that's why there's constructive criticism. Keep it coming!


	3. Finding a Way Back

Okay, so I probably should explain my sudden absence. My computer contracted a virus, wouldn't work, I finally got it working again. Anyway, I'm updating the story after having written about several chapters in advance. I'll be putting them up soon too. So enjoy this chapter, and I promise I'll explain Pirate's significance later in the story. Just bear with me.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Resident Evil at all. And for the record Leon is my least favorite character in the whole series.

**(Chapter 2)**

"Ugh..." I groaned as a tongue tickled my cheek. I opened my eyes, seeing the light of day and Pirate's glowing amber eyes staring down at me. My head ached as if someone was driving a five inch nail into the top of my skull, and blood mixed with saliva dripped down the side of my face with the tangy copper flavour itching to have me empty the contents of my stomach onto the dead grass on the ground. Pirate whimpered, nudging my face and trying to get me to wake up. Groggily I lifted up my hand and let Pirate nuzzle it, my vision slowly coming to a stop. Getting up shakily, I felt the back of my head and sighed in relief as I saw that there was no blood. Wiping the blood from my mouth, I looked down at Pirate and smiled reassuringly. He barked back, his tail wagging.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine Pirate...thank you..." I spoke to the beast, who barked proudly and trotted around me. I chuckled and pet the wolf, then got up and pressed the call button on the radio clipped securely to my belt.

"Yeah?" I heard Ada's voice.

"I lost Leon again. A huge man snuck up on me and knocked me out. Do you know where they might have taken him?" I asked. She audibly smirked in enjoyment, before answering.

"You'll have to go through the village again. I'll open the tunnel door. Get to the Church." She replied. Huffing in annoyance, I confirmed my actions and started toward where I had come from. I sped up, Pirate keeping up with me as we quickly made our way to the village square. Dodging villagers, we quickly returned to the village square where mayhem was afoot. That same large blonde man, who I assumed was Leon, was fighting with more villagers near the square. Quickly, Pirate and I made it to the Church door without anyone noticing and opened it, going through and closing it.

"Come on, boy. We need to clear enough distance between Leon and ourselves." I said to Pirate, listening to the echo of my shoes on the wooden platforms Pirate and I were running along. Suddenly we came to a stop in front of the ladder leading up to where I hoped was the Church Area.

"You won't be able to fit that wolf up there, stranger..." A gruff voice called from my left. Pirate and I turned to who had spoken and I visibly grimaced at the sight of the man. He looked dirty despite the large overcoat and cloth that hid the lower half of his face. He hunched over as if the coat he was wearing was pulling him down, and his glossed over eyes made me think he wasn't entirely there, if you know what I meant. His eyes closed into almost a smile was he hooked his hands behind his back.

"What do you suggest I do, then?" I asked half out of sarcasm and half out of curiosity. The man laughed and sidestepped, revealing a wooden door.

"This is a secret passage into the Church. It leads you straight into the main hall. I've been given orders by the missus to help you in any way I can..." The man gruffly replied. "Also, I can sell you guns. Usually I'd be saving these for that other stranger, but I think I'll cut you a pretty good deal." The man said, opening his overcoat. Inside, a wide array of guns gleamed proudly in their destructive aura. He reached into his coat and produced a gleaming black gun, and I automatically recognized it. Special Edition Punisher. He tossed it to me, my swift hand catching it and bringing it to eye level for inspection.

"Specially modified for demolition use. Punches through a maximum of five people, or one three inch thick steel door. Usually I'd sell something like this for around 350,000,000 pesetas, but for the missus's friend..." I involuntarily twitched. Ada and I were _not_ friends. I'd be anything _but_ depressed if she suddenly died a few days from now. The grungy man looked at me with happy eyes. "I think twenty five million pesetas would be okay..." Scoffing, I reached into my pocket and pulled out three unmarked thousand US dollar bills from the commission Ada paid me. I had more where that came from, but I knew it was more than enough. He pocketed the bills and passed me a bright red box of Punisher Bullets. The merchant laughed heartily, allowing Pirate and I to pass. "Been a pleasure doin' business with you, stranger..." His voice echoed as Pirate and I closed the door.

Pirate and I found ourselves in a pitch black tunnel. I was blind. "Shit..." I swore, feeling around. "Pirate?" I called. He barked. "Help find the exit. I can't see." I asked, not really expecting the dog to understand a word. A few seconds passed before he gently grabbed my sleeve with his teeth, then lead me to the right. He was being my seeing eye, actually timing his turns to make sure I didn't run into a wall or something. The sound echoed through the tunnel, and at first our footsteps told me that we were in some sort of cave, and then I heard Pirate's paws hit wooden floors again, along with my own. Our own breathing broke the silence, then was drowned out when the sound of rock grinding against rock deafened our ears, and a ray of light appeared, cutting through the darkness and illuminating a flight of stairs. The passage had opened up. Pirate had led me to an exit.

'Okay...didn't really expect him to actually understand...' I thought in confusion. I shook the confusion away and gratefully scratched behind the wolf's ears.

"Good job, Pirate! We're here!" I quietly thanked the animal. We quickly ran up the stairs, finding ourselves right in the middle of the Church altar, empty and silent. Stepping out into the light, Pirate and I saw various ladders leading to the higher level of the church. Turning to the wolf, I spoke. "Stay here. I'm gonna find a way to Ashley." I said firmly, the wolf barking and sitting obediently on the stone floor. Smiling, I quickly turned and climbed the ladder and made my way around the balcony that overlooked the altar. Seeing a door, I quickly made my way to it.

"Hey!" I spun in time to feel a fist collide with my face and a foot to knock me back. I caught myself, staring at the person who had attacked me and saw a red haired man in an almost feral pose, hunched down and staring at me with one scarred silver eye and one indigo eye. He was wearing a black suit, with two silver Berettas in holsters on both sides of his hips and a combat knife safely holstered and strapped to his shoulder. "Who are you? Stay away from Ashley!" He growled. I glared, putting myself into a fighting pose. I cracked my knuckles, glancing at the scars from training exercises long past on the skin covering the joints.

"I don't care enough to tell you my name. If you want a fight, you got one." I told him, waiting for his first move. He ran forward, throwing fast jabs at my chest while I dodged. I saw my opening and bent forward, throwing my foot backward and slamming my heel into his forehead and knocking him backward. I resumed my fighting pose, my fingers slightly curled like claws and pointing at my attacker. "Wanna try again?" I asked. He shook the daze from his head, running and jumping forward, trying to deliver a flying kick to my chest. I stepped aside, then raised my arm to block the punch that came my way, then bent forward to dodge the next right hook to the face. While bent, I thrusted my palms forward, slamming them into his chest and sending him flying through the stained glass of one of the windows. I followed through the rain of reds, blues, greens and yellows, watching as he hit the ground on his back. As I neared the ground, I threw a fist at him. He dodged in time to avoid having his head crushed as the black rock I had punched cracked and crumbled.

I backflipped when I heard the sound of a knife scraping it's sheathe, a silver gleam just barely nicking my nose. I landed and unsheathed my combat knife, holding it defensively.

"Stay away from Ashley and Leon. I know you've been following them. I won't allow you to kill them..." He growled. I smirked.

"I'm not here to kill them. A person I know _asked_ me to come _help_ Leon." I retorted. He laughed.

"Jack said someone hired a Canadian Mercenary to keep Leon from getting to Ashley. _I'm_ here to help Leon." He said in a tone that said that he thought I was an idiot. We paced around each other with our knives drawn, staring at each other over the gray gleam of our blades. My blade was always nicely polished, reflecting the gray, cloudy and dreary sky clearly. The knife had not tasted blood in quite a long time, and it seemed to resonate with the hunger to feel the man's flesh split under the pressure of the razor sharp edge.

"He's not here to kill Leon. He's telling the truth..." We both looked to my left and saw Ada leaning under an archway. She had a smile on her pale asian face, her dark blue shades hiding her eyes. "Krauser lied. _I_ hired him to help Leon. You're here under _extremely_ false pretenses." She said slyly. The redhead narrowed his eyes at her before relaxing his stance and slipping his combat knife into the sheathe strapped to his shoulder. He sat himself down on one of the black stones dotting the small ensconced area of grass we had been fighting in, staring at Ada. He pulled a packet of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, took out a stick and placed it in his mouth. I hadn't noticed before, but on the tip of his thumb and middle finger he wore black rings. He brought them together and snapped his fingers, a spark suddenly ingiting into a small ball of flame he seemed to hold in his hand. He brought the flame and the end of the cigarette together, inhaling the disgusting smoke that burned from the tobacco rolled into a cylinder and sighed.

"Then please explain. I've got time, Ada..." The man said to the black haired woman. She smiled and walked closer to the two of us. With the cigarette hanging from his lips, he spoke. "Explain to me why you're still messing with Leon's life." He said. Ada seemed to falter in her advance. "You think I really believed him when he told me you were dead? You were a secret agent far longer than he and I were. I think you'd know a thing or two about faking death." He explained. Ada seemed to smile serenely.

"A thing or two..." She repeated, shrugging. "And what about _you_? You don't even _like_ Leon, why are you trying to help him?" She countered. I watched as he flicked ash from the end of his cancer stick and blew smoke from his mouth slowly. He didn't even seem phazed by the Asian woman's question. I leaned against one of the higher walls nearby, watching the conversation. Suddenly another stained glass window on the lower level broke, and Pirate bounded out into our area. He barked proudly as he sat by my side. Both Ada and the man with red hair stared at me with confused eyes. I shrugged and gently scratched the back of Pirate's ears as I watched them. "That..." Ada pointed at me with a smile, and I began to hate her all over again. Her and that sly, annoying little smile of hers. "...is someone I met a long time ago."

"So how old does that make you?" The man joked maliciously. I narrowed my eyes. Annoying or not, no one should disrespect a woman.

"Hey...you asked her to explain, so keep your loud mouth shut." I spat. He glared at me before turning back to Ada. She seemed to smile at me gratefully before returning to her explanation.

"As I was saying...I know him. He's a mercenary and a bounty hunter, and from what I hear from people in the underground crime rings all over the world, he and his friends are some of the best in the business." She said. I smirked. I prided myself in being the best. I worked for four years to be the best.

"So, he's a criminal...great choice there, Ada." The man mocked.

"And you're what? A secret agent for the _Americans_? I'd be astonished if your President even acknowledged your contribution to Ashley's rescue. He generally _loves_ stealing the spotlight." I mocked back.

"You're still acting like children..." Ada commented, shaking her head. I rolled my eyes and pushed off the stone wall.

"Ada. You don't even _know_ me. Not for real. All you know is that I can help you get out of whatever that maniac you work for is planning. If you want me to keep playing your game, I suggest you let me do what I believe will help." I spoke, Pirate beside me. Then I looked at the redheaded man. "I don't trust Americans. Period..." I stated. Ada smirked as the redhead asked her a question.

"Who is this guy?" He asked. She laughed softly.

"You're more susceptible to forgetting things than anyone else, given the life that you've lead, Isaac..." Suddenly my face paled. It couldn't be. Suddenly I interrupted by pushing off the wall and leading Pirate to the archway Ada had appeared in.

"I'm gonna go. Leon will probably be here any minute. I don't want to be here when he does. Ashley is in good hands." I said as I left. After walking a few metres, Pirate and I began walking down the path that seemed to be to the right of the church. We carefully walked onto planks supported by wooden beams hugging the face of a high cliff, jumping gaps when we had to.

As we slowly walked on those planks, my mind kept drifting back to that redheaded man talking to Ada. His tousled blood coloured hair looked like Isaac's but the eyes were just way too different. I stared down at the misty abyss that masked the real height of the potential fall from the poorly built walkways Pirate and I were standing on, then up at the gray, dreary sky and ran through all the locked away memories of the two of us before our lives got so complicated.

(Flashback)

I had started tenth grade three months and twenty one days before I first met him, seeing him huddled up in the bus terminal as I walked home from night school at the local university. I didn't even think twice about walking into the terminal and approaching him. As I got closer, I could hear his sobs.

"You okay?" I asked. His head jerked up, his cheeks stained with tears. His puffy red eyes stared at me with an almost desperate attempt to scare me away as he wore black jeans and a "Sex Pistols" tee shirt, which was stupid in and of itself because it was winter at the time. I held out my blue parka to him, leaving myself in a thick beige wool sweater, my black and white wool scarf and my jeans. "You look like you're not from here." I commented. He sighed and nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes as he stared out into the dark, snow dusted scenery through the tall glass window panes. I remembered that he hadn't spoken more than he had needed to at the time, choosing his words carefully to relieve me of the more saddening details and staring up at the rapidly blinking fluorescent lights to avoid my eyes. He kept his eyes from mine until I smiled and asked him his name. He looked at me in shock.

"Isaac...My name is Isaac." He said. I shook his hand and introduced myself, telling him my name.

"I'm pretty sure my parents would be okay with you staying with us for a while until you can get things sorted out..." I said, pulling him to his feet and shouldering one of his duffel bags.

"I-I don't want to be a burden...I'll just stay here." He protested.

"That's stupid. Where are you going to stay?" I asked him. He looked down at the linoleum tile floor, his eyes shifting from side to side like a child when being berated. I readusted the strap hung on my shoulder and began to walk out of the terminal. Isaac followed, clutching the thick parka tightly. The terminal entrance doors slid open as we neared them, and the whistle of the strong breeze hit our ears.

"A-aren't you going to be cold? It's snowing outside!" He exclaimed. I turned to him and smiled.

"I've lived here for my entire life. This is nothing. Sometimes it gets to around forty-five degrees celsius with stronger winds than this. Come on. That parka is warm enough. It takes one bus to get to my house from here. You'll be pretty warm." I assured him. I turned and kept walking, the redhead keeping up with me while clenching his tearing eyes shut and pulling the parka tighter around his body. "You might not want to do that..." I warned. He still didn't open his eyes as we passed under one of the pedestrian overpasses of the mall near the university.

"Do what?" He yelled while clenching his eyelids shut. I leaned in and spoke.

"Close your eyes in this kind of weather. Tears that develop from the cold wind will get onto your eyelashes and freeze them together. Funny story. That happened to my brother before." I said jovially. He opened his eyes wide, possibly terrified by the notion of having his eyelids frozen shut for a few minutes at the most. "Relax. Just blink once in a while. You're American, aren't you?" I asked with a laugh. He nodded. "Thought so. And I assume this is the first time you've experienced this kind of winter?" I queried. He nodded. I shrugged. "Well...too bad for you, it's going to get worse as January rolls around." I laughed.

"Better here than back home!" He yelled as he pushed through the cold wind.

(End Flashback)

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I invited him to my house, but since then I had made a friend for life. Even with hundreds of kilometres between us, we still called each other at the right times, thought of the fun times we had hanging out with each other, until six years ago on my birthday.

Then, who was that man I was fighting? A fleeting memory? A man who coincidentally had the exact same first name and hair and bone structure as the Isaac Brown I had been waiting to meet again? It was impossible. Wasn't it?

**(End Chapter 2)**

So I'm back after nearly half a year, and I'm hoping that a few updates will suffice as an apology. Anyway, a review is appreciated, but not expected. Thanks and save the pocky.


	4. Finding the Truth

So here's another update amidst me trying to graduate, get a job, and to get into university, but enjoy. I have a surprise for the people who decided to follow The Price of Normalcy, in the form of revealing who the main character is, finally, I might add.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Resident Evil at all. And for the record Leon is my least favorite character in the whole series.

**(Chapter 3)**

"He couldn't be who Ada says he is...Isaac was never that strong, nor could he start fires just by snapping his fingers." I spoke to myself, contemplating the series of events that had unfolded just a few minutes ago. Pirate looked up at me boredly, his head resting on the rock that we had been using as a resting stop. "Pirate, he's just not a..." Suddenly a twig snapped behind us, Pirate and I getting up in a flash and turning around to see the American Agent standing akimbo with a confident smirk on his face.

" 'Just not a' what?" He inquired. Huffing in indignance, I sat back down on the dead grass and leaves resting my elbows on top of my knees and staring out into the horizon. His footsteps got louder and louder from behind me, until he flopped down beside me, the rush of air from his body hitting the ground causing a few dead leaves to jump and float back down into the pile. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his packet of cigarettes. He pulled two sticks out, holding one out to me. I shook my head, personally disgusted by people who actually liked to suck that crap into their lungs. He shrugged in a nonchalant manner and stuck his cigarette between his lips. He brought his thumb and middle finger together and snapped them, a fire being created between his fingers and lighting his cigarette.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Ada's explained almost everything to me. She wants me to go with you and make sure you don't die or something." He said, taking a drag of his cigarette. I rolled my eyes, looking down at the salt and pepper furred beast on my left, who was lulling himself to sleep. I was a top level bounty hunter and mercenary, I didn't need help from an American.

"No, I think I'll be okay. I've taken down some of the best sharpshooters to ever cross paths with me. Maybe you should be watching out for yourself before you offer to help me." I declined respectfully. He glared at me, smoke trailing from his cigarette up into the air and disappearing into the grey sky. I got back up, stroking Pirate's fur to wake him up and looked around. Nothing but dead trees as far as I could see, but wisps of smoke rose up into the sky from about half a mile away to the left of me, while a castle rose over the trees to the west. I headed in that direction, hopping back down onto the path bordered by high plateaus from both sides with Pirate hot on my trail. He hopped down, following me while smoking his cigarette and stuffing his left hand into his pocket.

"Just so you know, I don't trust Ada in this whole situation." He said. I rolled my eyes and retained my smile. Suddenly my ears picked up the sound of a few bushes rustling and I quickly brought my hand to my gun. Both the agent and I stood in the path, ready for what we had thought was an ambush by the villagers again. Then to my left I could hear a faint whistling noise, like something had been thrown in our direction. I quickly turned, seeing a small hatchet flipping through the air heading straight for the redheaded agent's skull. In an instant I grabbed it out of the air, then turned to see more villagers heading towards us from down the path. I could smell stagnant water coming from down the path where the villagers were coming from. I jolted as the explosive sound of a gun being fired hit my ears, turning to the redhead and seeing him with his Berettas in hand, firing away.

"What are you waiting for? Start shooting!" He yelled, pulling the trigger over and over. I nodded, telling Pirate to stay and throwing the hatchet back into the crowd of villagers, a woman at the front of the crowd getting the blade right in the side of her neck and dropping to the ground. I immediately drew my firearms and began to fire, quickly dodging the hatchets and scythes being thrown our way. Suddenly the redhead shoved me to the side, his guns back inside their holsters. "Get back..." He said calmly, snapping his fingers and holding the flames that ignited as they grew larger and larger.

I stepped back, shocked as the flames seemed to rage out of control, singing his fingers and licking at his suit. Suddenly he moved his hands forward just in time for the large orbs of fire to finally burst, sending flames shooting in a wide radius consuming everything in it's path, namely the villagers. Pirate and I turned our eyes away from the blinding sight, as the overwhelming light seemed to block out everything else from our vision. Soon the stars died down in our eyes, and we opened our eyes to see the utter annihilation of the villagers that had blocked our way. The destruction was so extremely focused that you could see where the flames had touched down and where the agent had been standing. A visible parabola like curve of burnt grass, stone, and charred bodies with it's apex just a metre away from where the agent stood, his palms blackened by the flames and the sweat steaming off his brow. He stood up straight, clapping his hands and shaking off the black residue. I knew then that the man wasn't fully human. He turned to me half smiling, half grimacing and checking his well groomed blood red hair.

"Haven't had the chance to do that in two years. It's good that the plateaus were guiding the flames, they wouldn't have been able to reach all of them if they weren't." He commented on his own destructive capabilities. My jaw almost dropped at how nonchalant he seemed about all of it. "Come on. Leon is probably on his way already. Ada wants us to meet her at the castle." He said encouragingly. I regained myself and nodded, heading up the path; careful to keep away from the twitching, charred bodies of all the villagers. I grimaced when I saw the agent openly step on one of the bodies, the skin cracked and burned severely. I hopped over the body, trying to keep my mind off the disgusting footprint embedded in the sunken, liquefied flesh caused by the agent's leather loafers. Pirate seemed irritated by the smell of burnt flesh as well, sneezing whenever he'd step over one of the bodies.

"Doesn't it hurt?" I asked. He stopped and turned to me with curious eyes.

"Huh?" He replied dumbly. I nodded in the direction of his hands, still blackened just a little. "Oh, nah. I've had this ability for six years. Fires don't hurt me anymore." He replied simply. I looked at him with confused eyes.

"Why are you even doing this?" I questioned. He looked at me as we reached a large gate at the end of the path.

"Jack...He says he'll tell me where I can find someone _really_ important to me. They're an important person to me, and if what Jack is saying is true, then I need to make sure Leon is okay." He clarified, his eyes reminiscent. My eyes widened. He was doing this for the same reason as I was. He then turned to me, his eyes portraying the curiousity he was trying desperately to hide. "And yourself?"

"I've got my own agenda to pursue. Leon might know something about a friend of mine who disappeared a few years back. I'm pretty sure they might have met each other at some point." I said, looking off into the distance. We passed through the pretty much obliterated gateway, seeing the large lake from where we were standing. Down the path leading to the shore we could see two villagers hauling the body of a man in an autumn police officer uniform onto a small motorboat. Suddenly the agent pulled me aside, moving behind a thick wall of bushes and crouching.

"What are you doing?" I asked. He shushed me, then pointed to where we had been standing. Leon stood there, looking down at the lake with black binoculars. Up close, he was pretty impressive looking for someone who started out as a cop straight out of the academy. Even through the thick mesh tactical garb I could see the outline of a chest with larger muscles than my own, and the arms that held a small black handgun were powerful looking without looking beastly, and his square jaw showed maturity far beyond his years. He cursed, and both the agent and I jolted when an earth shaking roar ripped through the air, emanating from the lake. We both turned our heads, and saw something humungous and black dive back into the lake, huge splashes of water the only evidence of it being there. Soon after, everything went silent.

Leon jogged down the path leading to the shore, jumping onto one of the two boats sitting at the dock and staring the engine. Pirate and I moved out from behind the bushes, watching as a large shadow materialized underneath Leon's boat then surfaced with a roar, trying to swallow Leon up, boat and all. Leon had caught it in time, and steered himself out of the way. He then threw a harpoon at the beast, the boat suddenly being pulled along as the monster swam like a torpedo through the brown, disgusting water. He began to toss more and more harpoons at the beast, but was missing a few times. The redheaded man emerged from the bushes, one of his silver Berettas in his hands and aiming for the creature. He began to fire, little sprays of blood appearing on the boil covered back of the salamander-like monstrosity. I ran up beside him and pulled out my guns, firing at the beast and managing to hit the monster a few times. Leon stood up taller, a harpoon in his hand. He put all his power into the throw, the object slamming right into the monster's spine. It reared back into the air, thrashing around and sending waves crashing into the shores of the lake.

Slowly, it slammed back into the water on it's back, sinking down into the murky depths. Suddenly Leon let out a yell of pain. Both the agent and I looked in his direction, seeing him on his back on the boat, his leg being pulled by the rope that had been attached to the harpoon when it was embedded in the back of the giant monster. He pulled a large combat knife from a shoulder strap, slashing at the rope as the rope seemed to pull harder as the aquatic beast sank lower and lower. Suddenly the boat rocked violently as the rope snapped, Leon rubbing his leg in pain. Seeing that he was safe for now, I tugged the red haired man's sleeve. Suddenly my communicator went off. I picked up.

"What's the news?" I asked.

"Get to the castle, there are things I need you to do for me." She said, professionalism and seduction laced in her words all at the same time.

"Understood." I said simply.

"Be sure to have Isaac with you. He's an asset to you right now." She said. I fell silent, my eyes out of focus. "Are you alright?" I shook myself from the daze that I was suddenly in. That name again.

"Who?" I asked, wanting answers.

"Isaac Brown. The man with the red hair, the American Agent Jack asked to come here." She explained, her voice having a hint of confusion in it. My eyes widened. It couldn't be.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes...why?" She asked. I didn't answer, letting go of the button that kept the link between Ada's communicator and myself. All along he's been right under my nose, sneering at me and making rude comments at me and Ada. I'd been made a fool of, never knowing where he was for the last six years. Now, this whole charade was going to end. Turning to the red haired man I felt like my eyes were burning a hole through his head before he turned around. He looked at me in confusion.

"Something wrong?" He queried. I shook my head before reaching into the many pockets lining the interior of the dark blue raincoat I was wearing over my tight long sleeve shirt made of bulletproof Kevlar. Over the years I grew accustomed to heavy clothing, and once I had made the crossover into bounty hunting and mercenary work I applied that customary practice into saving my life. One of my acquaintances decided to be my main supplier of tactical gear. Looking back on the jobs that I've been on, I owe my life to the stuff they gave me. I ran my hand through all the pockets and found the small capsule holding the one thing I had ever kept from my life before what had happened six years ago. I popped open the container, staring somberly at the thin metal framework and my two translucent reflections. I picked the object up, unfolding the legs and rested the square glasses on the bridge of my nose as my eyes began to blur through the glass.

"Oh my god..." He whispered, trembling.

"Do you remember me?" I asked, nausea creeping in from the impaired vision my old glasses were causing me. There was silence between the two of us before he spoke again, his voice shocked and his eyes wide.

"You're supposed to be dead." He whispered in shock. I chuckled.

"There's a reasonable explanation for all of this, Isaac. I assure you. I'm alive and well." I replied. He put his hands to his ears, shaking his head.

"I don't believe you! I saw the grave myself! I saw your bones being dug up! How can you still be here?" He yelled, his eyes becoming bloodshot as tears began to slip down his pale cheeks.

"That was fake. Those weren't my bones." I began to explain. He wouldn't stop shaking his head.

"They said you died in a fire four years ago! They found your burnt bones! I saw the burnt monastery myself three years ago!" He screamed, crying freely. I shook my head.

"_I_ burned down the monastery after everyone was killed. It was better for my family to think I died by accident, rather than let them live with the knowledge that their son was the one who massacred an entire building of people." I took off my old prescription glasses and looked down at the straw coloured, dead grass. "It was one less shame for my family." I added sadly.

"I don't believe you. You're not Kris. You're an imposter." He said simply, staring defiantly into my eyes.

**(End Chapter 3)**

I'm very happy to say that I'm already halfway through school, and graduation is quickly looming over me. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	5. Finding Reason

Oh god, I cannot believe how many chapters I already have in reserve. I should be a lot more quick about updating. Anyway. Here's chapter 3, I hope you like it. Please tell me how my descriptive writing is going, I REALLY need to work on that.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Resident Evil at all. And for the record Leon is my least favorite character in the whole series.

**(Chapter 3)**

**Once upon a time, at the foot of a great mountain**

**there was a town where the people known as "Happy Folk" lived,**

**their very existence a mystery to the rest of the world,**

**obscured as it was by great clouds. **

_**"Attention. Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert. All security personnel please report to vehicle bay B. Intruder Alert."**_

_"What is it now?" A blonde, goateed man asked as the sirens began to blare. He furrowed his brows, trying to ignore the ruby lights flashing on and off as the sirens kept sounding._

**Here they played out their peaceful lives,**

**innocent in the litany of excessive violence**

**that was growing in the world below.**

**To live in harmony with the spirit of the mountain**

**called Monkey was enough.**

_**"Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert. All security personnel please---KRZZARGRAGH----"** There was silence afterwards, and the red warning lights stopped flashing. The goateed man looked up and around, confusion written on his face. He stared at the digital clock on the sterile white wall above the medical cabinet, his face wrinked with worry. The silence was palpable, and the sound of hurried pitter patter of footsteps passed just outside his personal lab's door. After a few seconds, the only sound he could hear was his own breathing, as well as the robotic hum of the computer left on in the corner of the room. No sounds seemed to emanate from outside the room, and the man inched towards the one way mirror._

**Then one day, strange folk arrived in the town;**

**they came in camoflauge; hidden behind dark glasses,**

**and no one noticed them, they only saw shadows,**

**you see, without the trick to the eyes, the happy folk were blind.**

_**CLANG!**_

**Falling out of aeroplanes, and hiding out in holes.**

**Waiting for the sunset to come, people going home.**

**Jump out from behind them and shoot them in the head,**

**now everybody's dancing the dance of the dead;**

**the dance of the dead, the dance of the dead.**

_The man let out a yelp and spun around, seeing a small metal bowl on the ground, the resonating clash of the bowl hitting the ground echoing through the room. His heart began to race as he got closer and closer to the reflective glass, moving closer and closer and trying to peer through it. The room through the glass was smoky, some sort of gas obscuring everything from view. Through the glass, he could just barely make out a darker grey figure slinking through the smoke, but he had written it off as a trick of the eyes. Suddenly it appeared again, in the corner of his eye but disappeared an instant later. He couldn't hear anything through the glass, just the gentle buzzing of the digital clocks. Again, in the corner of his eye a darker grey figure moved through the smoke again. The man felt more worried but his curiosity kept him glued to the glass. The dark figure in the smoke appeared again, moving through the smoke like a ghost. There was a sudden gleam of dim light, and after a split second, the only thing the scientist could see was darkness._

**In time, the strange folk found their way **

**into the higher reaches of the mountain,**

**and it was there that they found the caves**

**of unimaginable sincerity and beauty.**

**By chance, they stumbled upon the place**

**where all good souls come to rest. **

_The sound of dripping liquid was the only sound in the room for a few seconds, before there was a beeping noise and another male doctor stumbled inside, panting heavily. He scrambled to the part of the room farthest from the sliding door. He had witnessed the massacre in the vehicle bay, watching a young boy move like a blur with two swords and completely destroy the security guards that were unfortunate enough to choose to do their job at that moment. The boy was merciless, killing even the scientists that were unlucky enough to be inside the bay without the slightest sense of remorse for his actions. As the scientist hid inside one of the large canvas covered trucks he only caught a glimpse of the intruder as he sliced through the torso of another one of the guards who were twice his size. The boy was smiling, his eyes wide and filled with malicious thoughts. _

**The strange folk, they coveted the jewels **

**in these caves above all things, and soon**

**they began to mine the mountain.**

**It's rich scene fueling the chaos in their own world.**

**Meanwhile, down in the town the happy folk slept restlessly,**

**their dreams invaded by shadowy figures digging away at their souls.**

_He and a friend managed to escape the carnage to seal the information Umbrella had been keeping, only to realize that the man wasn't interested in stealing Umbrella's information. He was there for the thrill of the hunt. The scientist figured that out firsthand when he watched Elaine, his blonde buxom research assisstant's head come off. He also knew the boy meant business when he watched ALL of Umbrella's special forces die in a collective pool of crimson blood. _

**Every day people would wake and stare at the mountain,**

**why was it bringing darkness into their lives?**

**And as the strange folk mined deeper and deeper into the mountain,**

**holes began to appear, bringing with them a cold and bitter wind**

**that chilled the very souls of the monkey.**

**For the first time, the happy folk felt fearful**

**for they knew that soon the monkey would stir from it's deep sleep.**

_By then, there were only a few people left in the complex other than the prisoners, the captives themselves left in a catatonic state at the sight of the floor becoming a river of blood. It was then he knew that the boy was targeting Umbrella itself, and the notion of dying at the hands of a little bastard murderer more deranged than himself was not very appealing. The coppery taste of blood made his tongue tingle, having split his lip earlier. All he could do now was keep running and hope the boy got tired of searching for the people left alive. Nearly three hundred employees were dead because of that boy. Each body missing a piece, the boy taking small souvenirs from all of them._

_The man had failed to notice the dead body of the goateed researcher being held up by a single edged blade, and the thunderous beating of his heart deafened him to the sound of metal dragging through wet, freshly split flesh. His racing heart drowned out the miniscule sound of footsteps coming to the door. The sound of the doors sliding open was only barely audibleto the scientist, this sound his heart was not loud enough to drown out, and at the speed of light his heart was stopped in the cacophony of a sword breaking through bone._

**Then there came a sound; quiet at first**

**that grew into castrophony so immense **

**that it could be heard far away in space.**

**The mountain called Monkey had spoken.**

**There were no screams, there was no time.**

**There was only fire, and then nothing.**

"Sure Isaac, call me an imposter. Deny it. Block me out. You left me to figure out that Umbrella was searching for me." I said, my face emotionless. "Have _you_ ever been drenched in someone else's blood?" I asked maliciously. He covered his ears and shook his head. "What are you covering your ears for?" I asked. He pointed his finger at me accusingly.

**Oh little town in USA the time has come to see,**

**it's nothing you believe you want.**

**But where were you when it all came down on me,**

**did you call me now?(1)**

"Kris would have never turned out like you! The Kris I know was a good guy, _not_ a killer!" He yelled, tears streaming down his face. I smirked, grinning like the maniac that I was.

"The Kris you know died years ago. That life ended when you visited me in the mall." I told him, unsheathing my combat knife and checking the sharpness of the blade. I turned my head to Isaac, the man's head hung low in sadness or shame. His shoulders were trembling, and tears fell from his eyes, the orbs obscured by his blood red hair.

"I...I held the guilt of causing your death close to my heart, and I promised to help destroy Umbrella for you. I always felt like I caused death and pain everywhere I go. I used to think helping people was the only way I could ever get away from the nagging voice inside my head but it was always there, always accusing me of being the reason you died in China." He spoke, mostly to himself. He lifted his head and stared at me, and for a moment I could see the green that used to be in them. "I don't think I can ever really believe that you're who you say you are. I'm sorry." And in those four seconds, I could see the real Isaac. The Isaac who was insecure, angry, and always trying to prove himself worthy of other people's time. In those four seconds, we were back to our old selves arguing like little schoolgirls who were fighting about the dumbest things in the world. In those four seconds, I felt the void in my heart from losing one of the only people who understood who I was being filled once again. My gaze softened, having heard what I had wanted to hear for so long.

"There are things that I've done that I feel guilty about everyday. You think you're the only one? You're not." I spoke softly. He chuckled, half a smile gracing his pale face. "Even though you might not believe that I am who I say I am, I feel guilty for what I do sometimes. Half the people I get paid to kill have families that they love, cherish, and would do anything for." I looked at Isaac with uncertainty. "Think about that for a second. I get paid to take fathers away from children, husbands from wives, brothers from sisters. You don't think I don't feel remorseful, not even for a split second?" I asked. He stared at the ground sadly. "And the reason I feel bad is because I know that one day someone better is going to come along and do the same thing to my future children, my future wife. Even though it's all I know, I can't help but know that one day, the body in the black sac that coroners haul out of crime scenes will be me." I concluded, my lips curled into a frown. I then smiled at the redhead.

"What's happened to us?" Isaac asked. Confused, I asked him what he meant. He stared at his palms. "Our lives have been completely destroyed by a company that wouldn't even give a fuck about us if we didn't know what we know." He spat, blood dripping from his fingertips and igniting. "Thanks to them I can't even go to an ice cream parlour without permission from the President of the United States." He stared at his hands still, then raised an eyebrow at them. He then looked up at me, his face confused. "I don't even _like_ Leon!" He said incredulously. I laughed, throwing my head back and seeing the blue sky melt into orange and a deep vermillion as the sun began to set.

"It doesn't matter whether or not we like the guy. It's our job. Come on. It's getting dark. We've got to get to this castle Ada's talking about." I said, Pirate following. After a few seconds, Isaac appeared on the other side of me with a half smile.

"You may be an imposter, but you've got his sense of self. Until I can be sure that what you say is true about who you think you are, what should I call you?" He asked with no distrust in his voice. I turned my head to him with a smirk. "Well, it'd be rude if I kept referring to you as 'that Canadian dude,' wouldn't it?" He said nonchalantly.

"Just call me Yen. It's what Ada calls me." I said. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"First you say you're Kris Matheson, and now you say your name is Yen? Make up your mind!" He ordered in exasperation. I rolled my eyes.

"Yen is my new last name. It's short for Xiao-Yen. It's the name of the man who took me in when I hid in China during the rebellion." I replied. He looked at me in confusion.

"How..." He began.

"How did I know about the rebellion? I was in the centre of it. After Raccoon City was bombed and after you came to Winnipeg, I began to look into court cases against Umbrella in the past and used my connections in the University Archives. Soon after, I began to hack into Umbrella America's computer system and found research files. Apparently they proposed to keep an eye on me and the other people besides yourself that managed to survive what happened." I said with confidence in my voice. I hopped over a broken fence and kicked a section out from the fence, allowing Pirate through. We passed another large metal gate before I started talking again.

"Fortunately, Umbrella's stock prices plummeted after the UN enforced a Stop All Business Transactions court order, and Umbrella was forced to close down all of it's research programs, shady or otherwise." We scanned the surroundings before continuing, the area completely empty of villagers at the moment. "Later, and I'm sure you might have heard through the military grapevine, Umbrella filed a lawsuit against one of their former scientists saying that _he_ was the cause of the outbreak in Raccoon City. A year later, that same scientist infected a cruise ship full of people and planned to launch missiles all around the world to take revenge against Umbrella. Around that time, the rebellion ended."

"Wait wait wait. How do you know that?" Isaac asked as we neared a small metal door with a rusted padlock attached to a chain. He pulled out a gun and pulled the trigger, the padlock blowing off and the chain coming apart. He kicked the door open, warily pointing his gun left and right.

"I was on that cruise ship, on my way home. At the time of infection, I was stowed away in the cargo level of the ship. Later, I woke up to find everyone dead, only they weren't dead; they were zombies." My mind went back to those two nights, when that madman killed nearly two hundred people. Those nights when I truly knew why Umbrella was after me, why Isaac had chosen to live a life in the dark shadows of the world; hiding away from civilization. I had witnessed it firsthand, witnessed dead bodies rise from where they fell and sink their teeth into the flesh of others and rip them apart. It had taken me a year to actually close my eyes and not see them, their rotting hands extended towards me, trying to rip a piece of my flesh to taste. "That night I finally realized why Umbrella was trying so hard to kill you and I. You knew too much, and I could have become a threat if I went to the public about you and what I knew about Raccoon City." He shuddered involuntarily.

"The five days I spent in Raccoon City during the outbreak was the most terrifying time of my life. Umbrella even thought to send a Tyrant after me." Isaac said as we quietly snuck past a large barn, the spreading darkness of night hiding the two of us.

"Tyrant?" I repeated, perplexed by the name.

"One of their monsters. I later found out that Tyrants were made using a special type of adrenaline that children create. The Umbrella scientists would operate on children without sedatives. The kids would be wide awake and screaming while they cut through the skull." Isaac explained. My heart began to ache, as my mind played out the scenarios of those children strapped down onto operation tables, screaming and thrashing about while the scientists sliced into their heads and cut into their brain. My rage started to get stronger and stronger, but I quickly pushed it away knowing that revenge only leads to more revenge.

"That's horrible." I spat out, my chest burning while I held in my anger. He nodded in agreement, the two of us crossing a large drawbridge towards a large stone castle that rose high into the sky. I turned to Pirate, who growled fiercely at the sight of the castle. "Come on, Pirate." The wolf didn't budge, still growling angrily. I walked over to him and ran a hand through his fur. I looked back at the castle, feeling an ominous aura emanating from it. It was huge up close, even though from far away on the hilltop near the lake it looked so small.

"MATALOS!" The two of us quickly spun around to the castle entrance, seeing robed figures behind us holding scythes, axes, flails and other old school weapons. We heard the same word from the other end of the drawbridge and I turned around, seeing more villagers with torches and more weapons. Isaac turned his head towards me; I pointed to myself and Pirate, then to the group of villagers. He nodded, pointed to himself and then to the group of robed figures at the entrance to the castle. I nodded and took off towards the group of villagers on the side of the bridge away from the castle with my guns in my hands. We had to take care of them quickly before Leon caught up to us. I pivoted to the right to avoid a hatchet being thrown at me, my stride hindered only a little. I jumped and slammed my heel into the chin of the villager up front, a sickening crack resounding in my ears as the man's head turned farther back than it should have. Pirate lunged at the crowd and knocked a few of them down, giving me time to draw my pistols and open fire while dodging to the left and right.

As I fought with the villagers, I noticed that the villagers seemed to keep away from Pirate as he crunched down on the throat of one of the older looking villagers. His eyes seemed more predatory, with an unnaturally glowing amber hue to them. It seemed like he was feeding on something. I noticed that when he initially bit down on the necks of the villagers, he actually made no move to tear anything out, at least for a few seconds. The bodies themselves would go limp for a moment before Pirate would actually bite down harder. I hadn't noticed until now. Pirate was feeding on something, but what? What was Pirate eating?

I quickly stepped forward and dodged the quick swipe of a hatchet, kicking backwards and knocking a villager back. I turned and saw a large scythe ready to be brought down. I quickly backflipped out of the way of the scythe's blade, landing on the shoulders of a villager before quickly and forcefully stepping on the shoulders of some villagers and knocking them down as I made my way to the edge of the pack. I hopped down, flipping and firing some bullets at the group. Two dropped, while another three held their punctured legs in pain.

I reached into my coat and pulled out another incindiary grenade. I called Pirate's name, the wolf bounding over while I pulled the pin and tossed the explosive into the crowd. I kept firing, making sure that the villagers couldn't get away from the grenade in time. Suddenly flames shot up from the middle of the mob of angry villagers, some of them tossed up into the air by the force of it while others screamed wildly as they were burned to a crisp. From up high it must of looked something like fireworks going off, a large explosion of flame, and several smaller fires moved away from the original burst. Pirate and I quickly picked off what was left, while the villagers completely wrapped in flames screamed and ran around erratically. Some dropped to the ground, twitching and burnt black. Others were unfortunate enough to stumble too close to the edge of the cliff and topple off, falling hundreds of feet to their deaths.

After Pirate and I were done with the leftovers, I turned to where we had last left Isaac. He seemed like he was having an easy time of the hooded men and women, before he turned and did not notice the robed man right behind him holding a scythe. I told Pirate to stay, the wolf standing rigid before running to behind a large house near the bridge. I nodded in satisfaction and turned back to Isaac. The scythe was brought down hard, Isaac gasping and stumbling forward. Blood poured freely from the wound, while Isaac slowly dropped to his knees. He dropped to the ground, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. I watched in an all consuming rage as he lay still on the ground, smoke slowly rising from his blood. All of a sudden, I was amazed to see the pool of blood ignite with roaring intensity. Isaac's body began to convulse in the fire, and he screamed out in pain. His fingers were clenched like claws, rigid and stiff as the fires raged around him. Soon he became just a dark shape inside the raging flames, and I watched him as the figure seemed to take on a more feral pose, on all fours and digging into the ground forcefully. As if alerting the villagers, the flames seemed to disperse in a spiral pattern to reveal something that didn't exactly look like Isaac.

He kind of looked like how The Hulk would look. Muscular, bigger than normal, and much more ferocious looking. His skin also seemed to have a sickly grey twinge to it, with large darker grey vine-like protrusions that disappeared under his clothing. His hair also seemed to mold together and grow, covering the lower part of his face and create a larger mouth with large razor sharp teeth. His arms bulged with muscles, tightly restrained by his suit that must have been made from an odd type of fabric that was fireproof and tear proof. His hands were proportional to his arms, the span increased to about the right size to easily hold a competition standard volleyball. On the tips of his fingers were thick, sharp nails that seemed hard enough to rip through a regular human's skull as easily as a newly sharpened can opener.

He roared, a mix of his own voice and the raging fires he seemed to so easily create, so loud that it shook me to the bone. He suddenly shot forward, leaving a trail of blood that soon ignited into flames while swinging his muscular arms, thick nails ripping through the bodies of the villagers. He jumped high up into the air, each hand gripping the skull of one villager. He quickly flipped and tossed them back to the ground like ragdolls, following soon after and quickly tearing through the crowd until nothing was left but a few torn and crumpled bodies and a large singe on the ground where he had bled. He hunched over, breathing so heavily that his whole upper body was rising up and down. Soon his breathing slowed, and from where I was standing his wound patched itself up, not even leaving a scar on it. Afterwards, his body seemed to shrink, going back from a six foot, two inch tall behemoth to the regular five foot seven. The changes he had gone through reversed right before my eyes. His hair returned to it's natural blood red, and his arms and hands shrunk to their original size as did the rest of his body. He stood straight up, letting out a deep sigh while reaching into his pockets and pulling out his cigarette pack.

"So that's why the President wants to keep such a close eye on you." I said in understanding. He craned his neck in my direction, a cigarette hanging from his mouth while he smiled, showing his white teeth. He nodded, lighting his cigarette and continuing on his way. I trotted to catch up with the shorter man. "So I'm guessing all your tactical gear is extremely flexible and completely fireproof?" I asked. He nodded.

"It's happened plenty of times where I don't have my tactical gear on and all my clothes burned off. Being naked in front of my colleagues was one of the more strange things that have happened because of my abilities. Mostly all my clothes are made of the same material. It costs a fortune, but I'd rather not be nude after everytime it happens." He said with a jovial tone. I laughed. I then noticed the scar that ran down the left side of his face and through his left eye socket.

"What about your eye?" I asked. He looked at me in confusion. I pointed to my left eye and lightly dragged the tip of my finger down the side of my face. He then understood what I was talking about.

"Oh yeah." He chuckled before continuing. "It's crazy that I'd forget about this old thing. The Tyrant that was after me managed to scratch me in the eye. Totally ripped my eyeball out of the socket and half my face." I frowned in worry. I hadn't noticed it six years ago at the mall. "It doesn't hurt anymore though. President Graham paid to have it replaced with a cybernetic eye, so it was like I hadn't even lost it. Plus it's a little more useful than my old one. This one can let me see a little better in the dark." He explained. As we walked into the unlit, gigantic vestibule of the castle I noticed that as the level of darkness increased and enveloped the two of us, Isaac's left eye began to glow an eerie blue-silver.

"Six years have really changed the two of us...Isaac." I said, sticking my hands in my pants pockets.

**(End Chapter 3)**

I'm just four months closer to graduating high school, and my fear is at an all time high. Who knew picking out suits would be so difficult? But I digress...read and review please, and I hope you'll like the twists I have planned!

(1) Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Head - Gorillaz


	6. Finding Trust

And I finally update. I apologize if the plot is a little muddled. It's just that this fanfiction is one chapter in an ongoing story with original characters that focuses on Yen/Kris' life after Isaac's visit in the shopping mall which was shown in Price of Normalcy as well as after Finding Our Answers. So there ARE going to be parts where information doesn't coincide with what descriptions I gave Kris in the last story with Isaac. It's been six years, people change.

In truth, I intended this as a chance to show that Isaac was not all powerful and a super rambo skilled fighter by putting him opposite someone who was a normal human but still had more physical power than he did. It's a cross over with RE and my original fic: The Curses of Secrets. One day, when I get everything done and everything makes sense, I'll put Curses of Secrets on Believe me, if I ever do, everything that the people who took the precious time to read Price of Normalcy will be answered.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Resident Evil at all. And for the record Leon is my least favorite character in the whole series.

**(Chapter 5)**

"So, you two finally made it..."

"Without injury as well..." Isaac said, twirling his beretta on his right index finger. His left hand was stuffed inside his left pants pocket, pushing up the bottom hem of his black blazer. He looked like a mafia grunt in that suit, standing akimbo like that. I quickly adjusted my hood and checked my firearms, wondering what kind of a person Leon really was. All I knew was that Isaac didn't like him. Ada herself seemed to think very highly of the man, if she wanted him to be safe in this kind of hostile environment. By hostile I mean so hostile that Isaac took a scythe to the back just a few minutes ago. He managed to stay alive, but nonetheless he still got slashed by a scythe.

"And you, Yen?" Ada asked, pivoting slightly to face me as her red dress waved in the light breeze. The split in the dress revealed supple, alabaster thighs and red high stiletto heels. I shook my head.

"I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." I assured. Ada smiled, relief tied into the many thousands of layers of meaning Ada was so adept at creating. I took that as a good sign.

"And Leon?" She asked finally. Isaac shrugged.

"He was fine when you called us." He replied. Ada nodded, her eyes showing the relief that her whole face was inept at portraying. A second later, she became all business.

"Listen, I want you guys to do something for me. I'm looking for a specific person inside the castle. His name is Luis Sera. He's got something that I need. Don't worry about Leon, I'll watch over him for the time being. I know Luis is still here, somewhere in the castle, so I want you to go look for him. Don't kill him, just find him and keep a close eye on him." Ada ordered, Isaac and I nodding in determination. Ada reached into the inner lining of her top, producing a small picture from her bosom of a Hispanic man with wavy, chin length black hair. It was almost like a mugshot, his face having no emotion in the photo. I gently took it from her hand, slipping it into my pocket.

"He's as good as found. Are you sure he's in the castle?" I asked. Ada nodded, checking her handgun's magazine. Isaac nodded, satisfied with the small conversation the three of us had participated in, and headed for one of the doors.

"Be careful, Isaac. Jack's recognized you as a double agent. The Los Illuminados will not give you the same consideration they have been so far." Ada warned, heading out into the darkness of night. I moved towards Isaac, the redhead nodding with a stern look on his face. Ada smiled with genuine concern, a smile totally different than the one she seemed to be able to give so perfectly. "Good luck, guys." She said before disappearing into the dark night. I watched her leave for a moment, before turning to Isaac and following him through the door.

"Do you trust her, Yen?" Isaac asked me. I shrugged. "From what I can remember of Raccoon City, Ada was a secret agent sent in to take the G-virus. She met Leon and tried to get him to find the G-Virus for her, but from what Leon told me she took a stab to the stomach by one of Umbrella's mutants, then a bullet to the stomach and fell down a missile silo." I nodded, internally surprised by her unwillingness to die. "We both thought she was dead, until a few years ago when she tried to steal the incriminating documents STARS had gathered on Umbrella. I then found out she was working for Albert Wesker." He said, dripping hatred at the mention of the name Albert Wesker.

Suddenly my ears picked up a faint sound, my head turning slightly. Isaac seemed to hear it too, his eyes shifting back and forth suspiciously. I was sure I heard a bow string being pulled back. Suddenly I heard the snap of a bow and the whistling of an arrow cutting through the air. I spun around and saw the arrow, shooting straight for my heart. It began to race, and the environment took on brighter tones as my body began to move faster. The arrow itself seemed to slow down considerably, spinning and pushing the air outwards in a spiral pattern. I quickly pivoted and grabbed the arrow just as it passed by me, moving as quickly as a dragonfly would zip past someone. The world returned to its original hue as my perspective returned to normal. As the world darkened in my eyes, I could see a man on a balcony in a tight, swamp green short-sleeved shirt and army fatigue bottoms. On top of his head was a red beret with some sort of crest upon it, and in his hands ready to fire was a large black hunter's bow and a shining red arrow. He had it pointed in my direction, and his left eye was closed while his right eye stared straight at me.

I quickly shoved Isaac out of the way and caught the next arrow with my hand, throwing the first arrow at the archer. He quickly dodged the arrow and leapt off the marble balcony, landing with ease on his feet. Isaac quickly stepped in front of me, unsheathing his combat knife.

The man in the beret chuckled, his voice deep and raspy. "Step aside, Isaac." He growled in warning. Isaac shook his head, his grip on his knife tightening. "I said, step aside." He repeated, dropping his bow and quiver of arrows. He unsheathed his knife which was one and a half the size of Isaac's and held it with it's tip pointing to the floor.

"Jack, this is unnecessary. He's here to help Leon, too." Isaac reasoned with the man. The man quickly jumped forward, nearly slashing Isaac's throat as he and I jumped out of the way.

"I don't care about Leon...Wesker wants both you and that man dead." The knife wielding man said, smirking. Isaac narrowed his eyes.

"You tricked me." He growled.

"Oh, that's not true. Your little friend Natalie is safe and sound with Wesker." Jack laughed, running his finger up and down the side of the blade, checking the sharpness. Isaac snarled, blood beginning to drip onto the floor and ignite. Jack chuckled, staring maliciously at the redheaded agent.

"Lay one finger on her and I swear I will rip your lungs out. She has nothing to do with this." Isaac growled.

"On the contrary. She's leverage for your cooperation. Would you really have said yes to this once you knew what was going on if we hadn't taken her?" Jack asked. Isaac's eyes began to glimmer with barely restrained anger. My anger began to boil to the surface, directed straight at the beret wearing man. The breeze seemed to pick up with steady intensity, as if setting the stage for a dramatic battle that was about to ensue on the gigantic veranda overlooking the cliff that the castle was sitting on. Isaac huffed and puffed in rage, the ferocity of the flames igniting from the blood dripping from his fingers strengthening as I slipped a small knife into my hand hidden under my sleeve. The moment Isaac sprang into attack, I'll rip this man to shreds. "But I guess this whole revelation kind of puts a damper on the whole truce thing we got going on. I guess this means we can settle the score from six years ago." The blonde man growled.

There was only one response from Isaac as he slipped his second combat knife from it's sheath. His eyes were gleaming with fury as Jack flipped his giant combat knife with a snake engraved into the base of the blade so that the tip was pointing to the sky. Jack smirked, his reflection gleaming in the side of the knife. Isaac stretched his shoulderblades and back, returning to an aggressive stance.

"Just like old times, right Isaac? I still need to pay you back for this little parting gift you gave me." Jack whispered with determination. Suddenly the strong breeze turned into a biting gust beating down on all three of us, a huge Black Hawk helicopter appearing overhead. It slowly lowered to be level with the veranda, hovering beside the castle. Isaac and I turned our heads toward the large hovering copter as the side door opened, a black haired woman about the same age as Isaac and I kneeling on the floor of the chopper, held by a taller burly platinum blonde man in dark shades. Isaac's eyes widened, half in shock and half in rage.

"Natalie!" He exclaimed, before his eyes rested on the blonde man holding her down. Her hands were bound together and her hair was whipping her in the face due to the strong gusts of wind. Tears were running down her face, and I could faintly hear her scream Isaac's name over the roaring sound of the blades spinning. The man gestured for someone in the chopper, another man in a riot mask appearing and holding Natalie down while he leapt from the chopper and landed on the veranda with ease. I could sense the intensity emanating from the blonde man, and the power his body seemed to emit almost too easily.

"Long time, no see. It's good to see you alive and in good health, Isaac." The man spoke, his voice deep and full of the power and condescending nature his body easily conveyed. Isaac stared with hatred at the blonde man, turning to face him instead of Jack as if knowing that the platinum blonde was the greater threat to the two of us. I turned my head to the scarfaced blonde, slipping my small knife into plain view for him to see. Jack and I continued to stare each other down as the sunglass wearing blonde continued to speak. "I was a tad concerned that my old employee wouldn't be alive to see this day, but seeing you now takes that doubt away from my heart." Isaac tightened his grip on his knives, his knuckles white in anticipation.

"Don't play that mind trick on me, Wesker! You sick son-of-a-bitch! Let Natalie go!" Isaac snarled. The blonde's sly smirk suddenly turned into an unamused frown, his brows furrowed ever so slightly. My hair whipped at my face, black strands cut unevenly by countless battles but still managing to stay clean and how I wanted it to look.

"Do NOT talk to me that way...You're not the one in control here. _I_ am." The man growled back. "I'm here for a reason, and so are you. I want you to join me." The blonde man, Wesker stated proudly. Isaac shook his head with a sharp and adamant 'no.'

"Not a chance, you psycho. I'd sooner die than become one of **your** cronies." Isaac snapped. Wesker looked displeased for a moment before shrugging with a nonchalant grin.

"Suit yourself." He pressed a button on a communicator clipped to his belt and spoke only two words. "Drop her..." In an instant my eyes turned to the raven haired woman in the chopper, the woman letting out a scream as the man in the riot mask pushed her out of the copter. I reacted, throwing my small dagger at Jack's throat, the man reacting and dodging just barely and getting the dagger embedded in his left shoulder, the man wincing. It gave me enough time to run to the edge of the veranda and leap off after her, Jack appearing with his bow and arrow, firing an arrow at me. It barely nicked my shoulder as I reached into my coat and drew my punisher, firing off a few shots before holstering it and began to reach for the black haired woman. She began to get closer and closer as we plummeted down the side of the cliff, so close that my fingers managed to graze her bound hands once or twice.

My heart skipped a beat when I managed to get close enough to catch her wrists, pulling her towards me so I could wrap my arms around her waist. Suddenly I felt a hand catch the hood of my raincoat, and suddenly Natalie and I weren't falling anymore, suspended in midair. I dared to open my eyes and looked up to see the smiling face of Kyle Destrade, holding onto a rope ladder coming out of a small military chopper. I couldn't believe it. I looked up gratefully at the Irish sniper, the wind from the rotating blades beating down on us. Kyle smiled, his lip still red from the fight the two of us had nine hours prior. I got Natalie to swing onto my back, grabbing onto the rope ladder and following Kyle as he climbed back up into the chopper. We scrambled in, my heart racing from the near-death experience I had, Kyle helping Natalie into a chair before turning to me. In the pilot's seat was my other partner, the stoic faced James Thelding.

"Thought we'd really let you die?" Kyle asked with a smirk.

**(End Chapter 5)**

Thanks to all who bother to read this story, and although I intended for this fic to be a little humorous, it kind of wrote itself into a more drama tragedy thing. Read and Review please. I like abuse...


	7. The Truth in Companionship

One day I'll be able to finish this and my other damn stories, so I just want to apologize about the huge delay from updating, I was just busy with Graduation and working. So when I wrote this I was actually watching District B13 so I wanted to include the first fight scene with a crapload of broken furniture and violent conversations, but when I conceptualized the scene it turned out like this. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Resident Evil at all. And for the record Leon is my least favorite character in the whole series.

**(Chapter 6)**

(Nine hours prior, (give or take time zone change) )

_"Where are you going?" James asked, brushing a strand of dirty blonde hair out of his face. I slipped a handgun from Kyle's collection into my briefcase, slipped a shoulder holster for the handgun and my combat knife and put on my raincoat overtop; the pockets filled with extra magazines and small throwing knives as well as my old glasses, which I never left home without. It was more habit than necessity, but it was a habit I knew I could never break._

_"Doing a commission. My flight leaves in two hours." I explained hastily. James leaned onto the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest._

_"Why weren't Kyle and I informed of this?" James asked. I turned to look at him._

_"Because this is a solo. I specifically told the employer that I'd do it myself." I answered. I pushed past him, carrying the suitcase downstairs to the front door and grabbing my keys. "I won't be back for a few days."_

_"Why? I really don't understand why we can't go with you." James stated adamantly. I briskly walked into the kitchen and grabbed a muffin from the wicker basket sitting on the kitchen table, biting into it while I briskly walked into the den and placed my thumb on the corner of a pictureframe hanging over the roaring fireplace. Suddenly the display of the Monet behind the glass turned into a computer display._

_**"PLEASE STATE PASSWORD..."** The computerized voice asked._

_"El Mañana." I spoke._

_**"PASSWORD VERIFIED."** The computer voice buzzed, a screen detailing newly requested commissions._

_"Set status as commission pending." I ordered, the list of commissions placed in red standby mode. "Computer, standby..." I ordered, the screen disappearing and reverting back to the Monet displayed behind the glass. I quickly ate the rest of my muffin and turned to James. "Don't even think about accepting any more commissions. You are to wait till I get back." I stated, heading for the front door. In the entrance to the den, Kyle stood with a stern frown on his face. _

_"This isn't safe for you to do. All three of us should be going, not just you." Kyle stated, staring down at me._

_"No. I'm going by myself and that's final." I replied, moving past him._

_"Why are you so goddamn stubborn?" James asked angrily. " Why can't **we** go?" Kyle quickly stepped backwards and leaned heavily on the door._

_"It's none of your business. Now get out of my way, Kyle." The brunette shook his head, arms crossed._

_"You're not leaving without us. I forbid it!" James spoke vehemently. I froze in my tracks, shocked. I slowly craned my neck in his direction._

_"What did you say?" I asked in angry disbelief. I turned to the taller blonde, my face a mixture of annoyance and confusion. James stared straight at me and said it again, those three words that fed the anger building up inside._

_"I forbid it..." He said with strength in his voice. I chuckled in dark amusement._

_"What makes you think you can stop me? I said it was none of your business, so just back off!" I yelled angrily. James' brows furrowed. "If you can keep me from reaching that doorknob, then I'll let you two come with me. If not, I go alone and that's it." I said, pointing to the front doorknob. "Both of you..." I said. Suddenly James sprang into action, rushing forward and throwing a punch at my face. I dodged, then dodged the next punch that came afterward, bent forward. James quickly reacted and slammed a heel into my chest, causing me to stagger backward into Kyle, who kicked at my stomach. I quickly blocked it with my right forearm and grabbed him by the ankle, while I slammed my foot into James' chest, then twisted; my trailing foot coming in contact with James' face while Kyle twisted in midair and landed roughly onto his back. James groaned as he lay on his back on the floor, and Kyle on his stomach in pain. I quickly jumped to my feet and headed to the door before I was tripped by two sets of legs and my chin slammed hard with a resounding crack against the floor._

_I quickly got up and backflipped over two floor sweeps, landing on my feet and assuming my signature fighting pose. Kyle and James got up, standing in their signature stances, the only obstacles between me and the door. I moved forward and blocked three kicks sent to me by Kyle with my right arm, while my left arm defended against the punches that James was throwing before using my right fist to uppercut James, then twisted, spun and ducked, slamming my heel into Kyle's ribs then quickly spinning a second time and slamming the knife of my foot into the brunette's chin. The two taller men hit the ground hard, James actually landing on one of my wooden antique tables and breaking it before hitting the floor on his back. I stepped past them and grabbed my briefcase. I placed my hand on the door knob when Kyle's pained voice began to speak once again._

_"You walk out that door, we might not be here when you get back!" He growled. I frowned for a moment before making up my mind. I wanted my answers. I opened the door and stepped through the doorway, leaving four words behind._

_"I'll take that chance..." I said coldly, slamming the door behind me._

"I thought I told you guys to stay home!" I yelled over the motor. Kyle laughed as he closed the door.

"Yeah right! Have we **ever** actually listened to you before?" He said with a laugh. He turned to the black haired woman in the seat behind us. "Who's the chick?" Kyle asked. I shrugged.

"Hostage. Bring me back up to the veranda." I demanded, James guiding the chopper upwards.

"Enemy chopper. Kyle, take it down." James asked stoically. Kyle turned to me, and I nodded.

"Do it." He nodded and reached into the storage case in the back of the copter, producing a four barrel linear launcher; hulking, gigantic and almost omnipotent as I scrambled to the other door and slid it open, then returning to the other door we were recently pulled in from and pulled it open. I turned my head to James. "Bring it to the left side!" I yelled over the roar of the motors. James nodded and turned the chopper, Kyle facing the Black Hawk with the linear launcher propped up onto his shoulder. I covered Natalie's ears as Kyle fired, a puff of smoke shooting out from the back of the barrel as a mini-rocket shot out of the front, spinning and spiralling towards the black chopper. There was a flash of light as the missile collided with the helicopter, before the chopper exploded and fell into a tailspin toward the wall of the castle. It slammed into the wall and exploded once again, embedded in the side of the limestone citadel.

"Bring it closer James!" I yelled. He nodded and began to strafe to the left, the veranda moving closer and closer until I launched myself from the chopper back onto the stone veranda. Isaac was down on one knee, panting heavily with a bullethole through his chest, piercing through his right lung. Wesker stood three metres away, holding a silenced Punisher while Jack advanced on the redhead with his knife drawn.

"Give it up and do what we say, Isaac. You can't beat the two of us." Jack said, his knife raised to stab Isaac right through the skull. On the downswing, Isaac closed his eyes like he was ready for death. Suddenly there was the sound of steel clashing against steel, and Isaac was still alive. A thin single edged blade was all that stood between Isaac and a ripped open skull, connected by a metal sphere to a leather wrapped handle, the knuckle guards thick and made of a high density metal alloy Kyle and I managed to develop. Holding the weapon was James, staring stoically and defiantly at Jack as he forced the blade away from Isaac's head.

"Probably not, but _we_ can..." James stated simply, staring with an all forgiving smile at me. I nodded and turned my head at Wesker, pulling out my single combat knife; ready for whatever type of power that man was hiding.

"Defiant, isn't he?" The platinum blonde man chuckled, staring at me through his shades. I smiled, slowly and cautiously sauntering towards him, gripping my knife even harder.

"I should know, I live with him." I said simply. The man holstered his gun and moved like a shadow toward me, his fist reared back and ready to knock me out. I quickly stepped out of the way, the man spinning and sending a powerful roundhouse kick to my head which was blocked with all my power. As he swung his leg back to deliver another kick, I punched him good and hard with my right fist, then immediately followed with a left hook, the blonde staggering and spitting a small amount of blood from his mouth. He stared at me with barely restrained anger before moving with inhuman speed and slamming a powerful elbow into my cheek, then punched me hard in the gut, my body sent straight into the limestone wall with an earthshattering crash. I grunted in pain as I fell to my knees, my back aching from the impact. I quickly got up and ran at the man, throwing punches that were blocked, swerving around a few kicks thrown my way before I slammed both my fists straight into two vital areas on the man's body. The blonde let out a grunt of air as he hit the ground, the wind knocked out of him. I cracked my knuckles, walking towards Wesker and the edge of the veranda. I took a second to glance at Isaac, who had passed out and was laying on the ground, his wounds slowly closing up.

James and Jack were in an all out fight with their knives, swiping and swinging at each other with ferocity until James managed to hit Jack's knife with such ferocity that the blade was knocked out of his hand. I turned to Wesker, the man gone. In his place was a high yield flash grenade without it's pin. It went off, my eyes shocked and irritated by the burst of white light, blinded. I quickly covered my eyes and waited, the blazing red stars in the darkness of my closed eyes fading just enough for me to open them and be able to see. Isaac was still sprawled out on the ground, still unconscious while his wounds continued to heal. James was gone, just the prototype weapons laying on the ground where he had dropped them. I looked around in a frenzy, up down, left and right, and there was nothing, just the chopper piloted by Kyle hovering near the veranda.

I turn to the chopper. I gestured for it to land on the veranda. Kyle nodded and quickly but safely landed the copter. I climbed into the cabin and spoke softly. "Get back home. Make sure Natalie is safe, okay?" I asked. Kyle stared at me, his eyes demanding an explanation. "No questions. Please, just go home and wait. I can do this." I said softly. He nodded with silence before tossing me another earpiece. I snatched it out of the air and stared quietly at it.

"If I can't be here physically, I can at least watch your back. Put it on." Kyle said simply as he watched me hop out of the machine and onto the cobblestone floor. The machine ascended and strafed to the left before turning away from the veranda and flying off into the distance. The doors closed and both Kyle and Natalie waved goodbye to me. I waved back as they quickly flew away and was by myself on the stone platform. I need to find James. Krauser and Wesker must have grabbed him when I was blinded by the grenade. I knelt beside Isaac and waited, the wounds on his body nearly fully closed. He let out a groan and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.

"Motherfuckers double teamed me." He growled. There was silence before his eyes widened and he looked straight at me. "Where's Natalie?" He asked frantically. I smiled disarmingly.

"She's safe. My friends managed to save us from the fall." I assured him. I pressed a small button on the headset Kyle gave me and spoke. "Put Natalie on." I said. There was a little rustling on Kyle's end and a bit of explanation before Natalie's voice came through on my side.

"Is this the guy who saved my life?" She asked tentatively. I smiled.

"It sure is. I have someone here who wants to talk to you." I replied.

"Wait! Before you give your headset to Isaac, I want to thank you for saving my life. I really didn't want to trouble Isaac more than I already have. He's done so much for me and I never seem to be able to repay him." She said softly. I inwardly smirked. Now I know why this girl was being used as leverage. It was weird when Isaac told me he was going out with one of his coworkers in the RPD, not only that but one of his superiors, but now it seemed even more odd now that he was interested in someone who couldn't get him fired from his job.

"Not a big issue. I do that kind of thing a lot. I'm a bounty hunter, so sometimes I do need to jump off buildings and the like." I said with a laugh. I took the headset out of my ear and handed it to Isaac.

"Nat? Are you alright?" He asked frantically. "I'm really sorry I got you into this mess. They went after you to get me to do what they said." Isaac was silent before his cheeks went bright red and he began to stammer, which is probably the first time I've seen him lose his cool in front of a girl. "Uh...if--if that's alright...no, it's alright. Okay, I'll see you when this is over. I'll see if Yen can patch my headset to his frequency." Isaac stuttered before turning to me.

"Nat wants to know if you can patch my headset's frequency to yours. She used to be a special forces navigator, and she wants to help." He explained.

"Sure. Tell Nat to give the headset to Kyle, the pilot and I'll explain it to him." Isaac nodded and repeated my order to Natalie. He handed my headset back to me and I set it into my ear again.

"Kyle here. There something you need, Kris?" He asked. I smiled.

"Yeah. I need you to create a second signal for Isaac's communicator." I said quickly.

"Gotcha. I assume Natalie has that kind of training, then." Kyle answered. In the background I could hear Natalie say yes. "It'll be up in forty five minutes. I'll give you the contact info then." He explained.

"Okay. Over and out." I turned to Isaac and spoke. "It'll take forty five minutes, but it'll happen." He nodded, brushing a strand of blood red hair from in front of his eyes before drawing one of his silver berettas. I stared in curiosity at the gun. "What caliber is that?" I asked. He turned to me and smiled.

".45 Special. What about yours?" He asked, pulling back the slider on his beretta. I drew the gun I took from Kyle.

"Modified bullets. They pack a wallop and is a guaranteed kill at vital points." I replied. I holstered the pistol and brushed the dirt and grime off of my raincoat. "Anyway, we should get going. We've got to find James." Isaac nodded. I grabbed his weapons and pressed the small buttons at the top of the hilts, the blades shifting on the metal sphere until they were a straight one hundred and eighty degrees to the handle and disappeared into the hilts, giving an unsuspecting target the illusion that they were simple straight single edged _iai_ swords. I slipped them into the holder near the bottom hem of my raincoat.

I drew my Punisher and pulled back the slider, moving with stealth into another door other than the one Isaac and I had come through. By now the sun had set behind the mountains, and darkness was beginning to creep into the castle halls. I wasn't going to lose another friend. A scream of rage hit my ears and my eyes automatically rested on the large group of robed figures, some of them holding chained flails and wooden spiked shields. They rushed me, and I sprang into action my left hand already drawing the high powered beretta I took from Kyle's collection and began to fire. I managed to drop about ten of them while another six were still alive and moving toward me. I ducked under the swing of a flail and grabbed the arm that swung the weapon and snapped it, then stuck the barrel of my punisher right up against the robed man's forehead and pulled the trigger, the explosion obliterating his skull and piercing another four figures in the shoulder, causing them to stagger backward.

I hopped backward, Isaac unleasing a volley of bullets at the rest of the group. In a manner of seconds they all were on the ground, twitching from the injuries they sustained. Suddenly something burst its way out of one of the robed figures' mouths, breaking the jaw right off its hinge. It let out a monstrous screech as it wriggled and swayed with an extremely long appendage flailing wildly. I could barely stand to look at it without vomiting, the creature looking like an enlarged exposed heart, it's veins pumping blood to it while the tentacle thing at the top flailed wildly with exposed rigid bone. I let out a cry of surprise and pain when the tentacle managed to hit me in the face, piercing the skin on my left cheek. I staggered as it withdrew and swung again from the other side, but I was ready this time and dove out of the way while Isaac pumped the creature full of bullets. It finally stopped moving, and I was left with a bleeding, ripped cheek. Isaac ran over to me and inspected the wound, the injury clean and free of dust or dirt.

"Jesus. That looks horrible..." Isaac hissed. I gave him a hard glare.

"Well, it **feels** the way it **looks**." I growled through the pain of moving the torn muscles in my mouth. He looked at me for a moment with studious eyes before producing a can of First-Aid Spray. "Whoa whoa whoa...what are you doing with that?" I asked nervously.

"Well, do you want to close it up or what?" Isaac asked with a snarky tone.

"I remember that stuff. Umbrella developed that, didn't they?" I asked, glaring suspisciously at the aerosol can. Isaac sighed in frustration.

"They used to. These are government made formulas. Totally clean of pollutants, I promise you." Isaac assured, and before I could say anything, he pressed down on the nozzle and forced out a steady spray on my scar. I let out a wince of surprise, and grit my teeth as the flesh on my cheek began to mend itself and grow new skin, leaving a slightly raised and discoloured scar. Like I didn't have enough scars already. Thinking that, I was suddenly reminded of my three scars on my chest and back. The first scar was the most painful to get, having had to sit there and watch as an old kung-fu master traced a glowing hot knife across my chest in the form of a black leaf. The other two, on my back between my shoulder blades and on the small of my back were less painful when I got them, having trained to withstand large amounts of pain and physical stress.

Pain was a reoccuring theme in my life six years ago. Losing my best friend, having to hide from everyone in China, and losing the closest thing I had to a father figure, all because of Umbrella. I wasn't about to let that happen again.

"You okay?" Isaac asked. I looked at him, prepping my Punisher. Guns weren't really my thing, but I couldn't draw too much attention to myself by using weapons not normally used in this era. I stared at my hands, reminding myself of the blood of the people I killed that had once stained these hands. I felt a little remorse for what I did, but I also reminded myself that showing Umbrella what it cost to destroy someone's life was worth every drop of blood that came in contact with these hands.

Isaac caught me staring at my hands and spoke. "You alright, K--Yen?" He asked. I looked at him through the corner of my eye and smiled.

"Never better."

**(End Chapter 6)**

I'm worried if I'll never get this story done, it's already forty five pages long in it's entirety and it's only going to get bigger. EE...I'm gonna die. Once again read and review to tell me what you think.


	8. Equal Trade

So, I've returned from a horribly long sabbatical with a new chapter of Finding our Answers.

For those who don't (or can't, because I know my writing isn't that great) follow the information I've written, the main characters of this piece are Isaac and Isaac's long lost friend Kristopher, who is now older, wiser, and much more able to hold his own.

I never got around to posting Kristopher's side of the story on either or (depending on how far I throw Kris into the RE universe) so I'll explain how this new incarnation of the mild yet brilliant friend of Isaac's came to be.

I had begun Kristopher's story as an entertaining conversation with two of my buddies that I began to write. Soon the story took off on it's own, but the main premise is that Kristopher begins a new, more dangerous life since "dying" in "The Price of Normalcy" and soon grew to be it's own saga. When I wrote Kris' story I never intended for Isaac and him to ever meet again, until my friends read a draft of the third installment and suggested that they do. He reasoned that doing so would give Kris more interaction and more character development. I soon agreed, and this came to be.

Now, the events in Kris' life unfold where he travels to China to search for anything that might lead him to Isaac whilst staying with a friend. Once realizing that Umbrella is searching for him, he goes into hiding in a Shaolin Monastery and is taken in by the Head Priest.

With Isaac and Kristopher reunited, Isaac's life breaks away from the events of Resident Evil, and he begins a new life as part of a mercenary team that Kristopher had started. Trust me when I say that Isaac and Kristopher will be appearing in future fanfiction, as well as original fiction, but I do not intend to impose my characters upon the RE storyline any more than I have.

Having said that, I _do not_ own anything pertaining to Resident Evil as a franchise, aside from a few games and a graphic novelization that was done for me by a friend, I only own Natalie, Isaac, Kyle, James, and Kris.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Something didn't feel right. We had been searching this castle for an hour and there was no sign of Wesker. Even Isaac was being distracted as we walked through the castle, the smallest twinge of rose powdering his cheekbones as he conversed with Natalie; flirting no less. Kyle on the other hand was audibly worrying over our lost partner. My eyes narrowed in determination. I had to find James. There was no argument from my conscience, every part of my being wanting to make sure that my friend was safe.

"Kris, report your location. Natalie and I are almost at the house, we can help you navigate the castle once we get home." Kyle said with no excess emotion in his voice. He tackled commissions practically, treating them with an impersonal veneer. He was also a master sharpshooter who had taught me basic firearm training after a particular incident left me without my signature weapons. I then made it a point to teach Kyle and James how to handle other types of weapons besides what they specialized in. I surveyed our location, finding ourselves in some sort of two tiered banquet hall, the redheaded man and I on the second tier looking down on the lower level. The room had a gothic feel to it, adorned with gray and limestone walls with antique dressers placed against each of the four walls. We could hear whispering coming from below, Isaac and I quickly ducking out of the way when a group of robed figures passed by below.

"What are we going to do?" Isaac asked. I pressed my index finger to my lips, then signalled to him that on the count of three we'd stand and open fire. He nodded, and I counted down with my fingers, my Punisher in my right hand. After the count of three he and I stood up and fired wildly, wiping out all but four of the robed figures who were chanting in deep, throaty voices. I drew my other handgun and fired simultaneously, Isaac focusing on a group of zealots coming from across the room on the balcony we were standing on. Suddenly his gun let out a click as he pulled the trigger, the magazine empty just as a flail was being swung in his direction. He stepped back before using his free hand to grab the man's head and lift him off the ground. He began to squeeze before flames began to ignite from the man's head, travelling all the way down his body and incinerating him.

He brushed the dust and ashes away as he slapped in another magazine into his Beretta and started firing once again. I became fed up and holstered one of my guns, pulling out one of the prototype weapons James had been using and held it through the knuckle guards. I pressed the button, the metal sphere pushing the rest of the sword out from the hilt and shifted it so the tip was past my elbow. I spun the blade, before tightening my grip again and blocking the swing of a large sword. I quickly pointed my Punisher at my attacker and fired, throwing them back just a little and allowing me the chance to spin the elbow blade and make a downward slash through the man's body, the top half falling to the left while the bottom half falling to the right. I knocked a flaming arrow away with the blade and fired at the crossbow wielder, the bullet punching through him and hitting the next two zealots that were walking behind him.

As if on cue, the leftover zealots turned their heads to a double door nearby just as a large blonde man burst through the door, handgun poised and ready to fire.

"Leon!" Isaac exclaimed, getting the attention of the blonde. I cursed and began to cut my way through the crowd, slicing and firing when necessary. I made my way to beside the large blonde and placed the elbow blade back into the holder in the interior of my raincoat and drew Kyle's specialized handgun and began to fire.

"Who are you?" Leon asked me. I didn't answer, just continued to kill the monks that were heading our way while Isaac managed to reach Leon and me. Leon turned his head to the shorter redheaded man in shock. "Isaac? What are you doing here?" He asked while firing his handgun. Isaac laughed.

"We're the help." He said simply. I slammed my foot into the face of a monk that managed to get a little closer, the head snapping back violently. Isaac managed to grab the wrist of a zealot and set him on fire, kicking him back into the crowd as he was soon nothing but a mass of charred flesh. I grabbed an incendiary grenade from my belt and pulled the pin, tossing it into the crowd and watching as the flames consumed a whole group of enemies. Soon we had killed all of the monks that were attacking us, leaving the three of us in silence. I stared at the marble flooring, concentrating pretty hard at what I was going to do to find James. That Wesker was just as fast as I was, maybe a little faster. He could be miles away from the castle by now.

"LEON! I've got it! We'll have the parasite out of your body in just a few seconds!" Someone exclaimed as a set of double doors across the room burst open, the man in the photo given to us by Ada standing with a syringe filled with some purple liquid. Leon quickly made his way to the Hispanic man, Isaac and I close behind. Suddenly the man's face was laced with shock, and he let out a pained gasp as a sharp claw pierced through the front of his shirt and lifted him up with ease. My eyes widened at the sight before I followed the claw to a tall man in a lavender robe, the back of his cloak ruffling as the claw threw the wavy black haired man to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. The man, who looked much older than all three of us smiled as the claw-like appendage disappeared under his robes while he picked up what Luis was holding. The aura the man was emanating was completely on par with Wesker's, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Isaac could feel it too, cracking his knuckles patiently.

"And so ends the story of this man...under minding my plan all along." The man said with a heavy Spanish accent. He turned around and made his way through the door they came in from. "Rest assured, Mr. Kennedy. I will have Salazar make sure you end the same way..." He paused, then turned around, staring straight at me and Isaac. "Be sure that I'll have a nice little surprise for the both of _you_." He said before walking out. The monks that were left behind began to advance on the three of us, Isaac and I quickly killing them while Leon tended to the dying Luis Sera. I watched the blonde from across the room while they exchanged words, before getting a call.

I backed away and answered. It was Kyle.

"Okay, we're home. I have a scan of the area and the castle. You're on floor 2. There are a lot of sub-levels and they're made to be like a huge maze, so be careful." I nodded to myself. "Where do you need to go?" He asked.

"Search the castle. Point me in the direction of any and all living biomasses. I'm going to find James." I stated with determination.

"You got it...you want me to give Natalie the same objective?" He asked. I contemplated it before turning to Isaac.

"Isaac...I'm going to go. I need to find my friend. You can stay, make sure Leon takes care of himself." I said, heading through one of the doors. He took a second to glance at Leon who had stood up and turned to the door the lavender cloaked man had disappeared in.

"No, I'm going with you. I owe that guy my life. Plus, I promised Ada I'd make sure you didn't get yourself killed." He replied, moving to me. He turned his head to Leon mid-stride and called out. "Yo, Leon! Be careful okay?" Leon nodded and disappeared through the door. I pressed the call button on my headset, Ada picking up almost immediately.

"Yes?" She cooed.

"Luis is dead. We saw it ourselves." I said simply.

"And the specimen he was holding?" She asked.

"The guy who killed him took it." I replied, pushing through the double doors and putting bullets into the bodies of the zealots who happened to be in the room at the time. I rolled out of the way of a flaming arrow headed for my heart, drawing my guns mid-roll. I recovered from the roll onto my knees and opened fire, the Punisher punching holes through the zealots and dropping them like flies. Isaac was pushing through the group, a trail of blood igniting and catching the tails of the robes worn by the cloaked figures. I got back up onto my feet and holstered Kyle's gun, using my left hand to pull one of the prototype blades from my inner breast pocket.

I ran forward, putting bullets in the heads of the men I had passed, switching hands so that my right hand was holding the blade and my left was firing bullets at the slower robed figures. Suddenly a group of five zealots stood in my way, and my right hand was raised and ready to rip them apart. Once I was in range I swung down hard, the impossibly sharp blade running through the man's body like it was gelatine. The body dropped, split into two as I sliced diagonally through the torso of the next robed man in my way.

"Yen! Let's go!" I heard Isaac yell over the crashing explosions of gunfire. I nodded, then began to speed up. The light began to brighten, and things began to slow down. My arms began to move faster, slicing through another body, then another, and soon my path was clear of any obstacles. My perspective slowed to normal and I quickly ran to Isaac's side. The man had already broken a wooden door open for us to escape out of. We raced through it, slamming it shut and pushing a heavy drawer that was conveniently placed near the door to keep it shut. After the door was secure for a good few moments, Isaac and I ran down the corridor as Natalie and Kyle calmly gave us directions on where to go.

"Okay, once you turn the corner, there should be a set of doors. In the third door on your right there's a bunch of stairs that lead to the higher level. There are three biomasses on that floor." Kyle explained. We turned the corner, and froze. An entire group of zealots were staring us down. Isaac moved in front of me and spoke.

"Give me a flame grenade..." He commanded. I pulled my last one from my belt and handed it to him, the redhead pulling the pin and tossing it. It burst with a large cloud of fire and Isaac held out his hand, his teeth grinding as suddenly the fire seemed to concentrate and then shoot forward in a wall that covered the entire hall, incinerating the robed men and women instantly. The flames died down, and Isaac's energy seemed to taper as his shoulders went lax and he breathed heavily. I turned to him and saw a steady stream of blood drip from his nose while his eyes were bloodshot from exertion. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"You all right?" I asked. He gulped and wiped the blood from his nose, nodding. He took a step forward before wobbling and stumbling. In an instant I was beside him, supporting his weight and moving him forward. "Easy there. Almost took a topple. I take it you're not used to using that much mental energy?" I said, the two of us slowly making our way to the third door on the right. He let out a breath of exhaustion.

"I've never had to control that much flame before." He put a hand to his head, steadying it for himself. "Oh...headache...think I need a little rest..." He warbled, before falling unconscious. I rolled my eyes and smiled, entering the staircase and going up the stairs. I carried the slightly shorter male to the landing and sat him down with his back against the wall, his torso rising up and down as he slept. I sat down beside him, staring out the window in silence. I could very well be losing another friend as we sat here. I could just go on without Isaac and try to find James. He could find me as long as Natalie was guiding him. Could I leave him here? Could I?

James could very well be dead by now. That thought seemed to sprint through my brain, screaming at me over and over. He could be dead, he could be dead. The other side of the argument seemed so valid as well. I need to know. I need to see it for myself. I need to see, either way. I didn't want to be left in the dark again. Not this time. I turned to Isaac. I couldn't leave him, could I? Not after finding him again after six years. He was the only person from my past that I wanted to keep in my life now. My brothers and sisters, I could never reveal myself to them. It was too dangerous, too scary. Rejection from family was worse than death in my culture. My parents, I didn't feel it right to bring that much shock to them.

It was too much irony. A third of one of the _best_ trio of bounty hunters is afraid to tell his family he is still alive. Kristopher Xiao-Yen, the man who in the span of a night wiped out a rebel complex consisting of nearly three hundred people was scared of his own family of normal human beings. I was sought out as one of the strongest fighters in the world, and what terrified me the most was my own family. The thought was so pathetic that it seemed amusing and silly.

I huddled closer into my heavy raincoat, putting my hood over my head and folding my arms on my knees. I set my head on top of my arms, and began to fall into a cautious slumber until a drowsy voice hit my ears.

"I don't mind you going on ahead, Kris..." Isaac mumbled, his head lolling to the side and his eyes covered by his pale eyelids. I chuckled, then yawned and began to rest.

"I'm not going anywhere..." I whispered, more to myself than to the redhead and fell asleep.

* * *

I have to say I'm rather pleased by Kris' personality. I modeled it after my own, in certain ways. The reason I took so long to update is because of the fact that I like to go over my writing and change things and change things until I feel like it's perfect. Read and Review and tell me what you think.


	9. Something Found

So, I've returned from a horribly long sabbatical with a new chapter of Finding our Answers.

For those who don't (or can't, because I know my writing isn't that great) follow the information I've written, the main characters of this piece are Isaac and Isaac's long lost friend Kristopher, who is now older, wiser, and much more able to hold his own.

I never got around to posting Kristopher's side of the story on either or (depending on how far I throw Kris into the RE universe) so I'll explain how this new incarnation of the mild yet brilliant friend of Isaac's came to be.

I had begun Kristopher's story as an entertaining conversation with two of my buddies that I began to write. Soon the story took off on it's own, but the main premise is that Kristopher begins a new, more dangerous life since "dying" in "The Price of Normalcy" and soon grew to be it's own saga. When I wrote Kris' story I never intended for Isaac and him to ever meet again, until my friends read a draft of the third installment and suggested that they do. He reasoned that doing so would give Kris more interaction and more character development. I soon agreed, and this came to be.

Now, the events in Kris' life unfold where he travels to China to search for anything that might lead him to Isaac whilst staying with a friend. Once realizing that Umbrella is searching for him, he goes into hiding in a Shaolin Monastery and is taken in by the Head Priest.

With Isaac and Kristopher reunited, Isaac's life breaks away from the events of Resident Evil, and he begins a new life as part of a mercenary team that Kristopher had started. Trust me when I say that Isaac and Kristopher will be appearing in future fanfiction, as well as original fiction, but I do not intend to impose my characters upon the RE storyline any more than I have.

Having said that, I _do not_ own anything pertaining to Resident Evil as a franchise, aside from a few games and a graphic novelization that was done for me by a friend, I only own Natalie, Isaac, Kyle, James, and Kris.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Something didn't feel right. We had been searching this castle for an hour and there was no sign of Wesker. Even Isaac was being distracted as we walked through the castle, the smallest twinge of rose powdering his cheekbones as he conversed with Natalie; flirting no less. Kyle on the other hand was audibly worrying over our lost partner. My eyes narrowed in determination. I had to find James. There was no argument from my conscience, every part of my being wanting to make sure that my friend was safe.

"Kris, report your location. Natalie and I are almost at the house, we can help you navigate the castle once we get home." Kyle said with no excess emotion in his voice. He tackled commissions practically, treating them with an impersonal veneer. He was also a master sharpshooter who had taught me basic firearm training after a particular incident left me without my signature weapons. I then made it a point to teach Kyle and James how to handle other types of weapons besides what they specialized in. I surveyed our location, finding ourselves in some sort of two tiered banquet hall, the redheaded man and I on the second tier looking down on the lower level. The room had a gothic feel to it, adorned with gray and limestone walls with antique dressers placed against each of the four walls. We could hear whispering coming from below, Isaac and I quickly ducking out of the way when a group of robed figures passed by below.

"What are we going to do?" Isaac asked. I pressed my index finger to my lips, then signalled to him that on the count of three we'd stand and open fire. He nodded, and I counted down with my fingers, my Punisher in my right hand. After the count of three he and I stood up and fired wildly, wiping out all but four of the robed figures who were chanting in deep, throaty voices. I drew my other handgun and fired simultaneously, Isaac focusing on a group of zealots coming from across the room on the balcony we were standing on. Suddenly his gun let out a click as he pulled the trigger, the magazine empty just as a flail was being swung in his direction. He stepped back before using his free hand to grab the man's head and lift him off the ground. He began to squeeze before flames began to ignite from the man's head, travelling all the way down his body and incinerating him.

He brushed the dust and ashes away as he slapped in another magazine into his Beretta and started firing once again. I became fed up and holstered one of my guns, pulling out one of the prototype weapons James had been using and held it through the knuckle guards. I pressed the button, the metal sphere pushing the rest of the sword out from the hilt and shifted it so the tip was past my elbow. I spun the blade, before tightening my grip again and blocking the swing of a large sword. I quickly pointed my Punisher at my attacker and fired, throwing them back just a little and allowing me the chance to spin the elbow blade and make a downward slash through the man's body, the top half falling to the left while the bottom half falling to the right. I knocked a flaming arrow away with the blade and fired at the crossbow wielder, the bullet punching through him and hitting the next two zealots that were walking behind him.

As if on cue, the leftover zealots turned their heads to a double door nearby just as a large blonde man burst through the door, handgun poised and ready to fire.

"Leon!" Isaac exclaimed, getting the attention of the blonde. I cursed and began to cut my way through the crowd, slicing and firing when necessary. I made my way to beside the large blonde and placed the elbow blade back into the holder in the interior of my raincoat and drew Kyle's specialized handgun and began to fire.

"Who are you?" Leon asked me. I didn't answer, just continued to kill the monks that were heading our way while Isaac managed to reach Leon and me. Leon turned his head to the shorter redheaded man in shock. "Isaac? What are you doing here?" He asked while firing his handgun. Isaac laughed.

"We're the help." He said simply. I slammed my foot into the face of a monk that managed to get a little closer, the head snapping back violently. Isaac managed to grab the wrist of a zealot and set him on fire, kicking him back into the crowd as he was soon nothing but a mass of charred flesh. I grabbed an incendiary grenade from my belt and pulled the pin, tossing it into the crowd and watching as the flames consumed a whole group of enemies. Soon we had killed all of the monks that were attacking us, leaving the three of us in silence. I stared at the marble flooring, concentrating pretty hard at what I was going to do to find James. That Wesker was just as fast as I was, maybe a little faster. He could be miles away from the castle by now.

"LEON! I've got it! We'll have the parasite out of your body in just a few seconds!" Someone exclaimed as a set of double doors across the room burst open, the man in the photo given to us by Ada standing with a syringe filled with some purple liquid. Leon quickly made his way to the Hispanic man, Isaac and I close behind. Suddenly the man's face was laced with shock, and he let out a pained gasp as a sharp claw pierced through the front of his shirt and lifted him up with ease. My eyes widened at the sight before I followed the claw to a tall man in a lavender robe, the back of his cloak ruffling as the claw threw the wavy black haired man to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. The man, who looked much older than all three of us smiled as the claw-like appendage disappeared under his robes while he picked up what Luis was holding. The aura the man was emanating was completely on par with Wesker's, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Isaac could feel it too, cracking his knuckles patiently.

"And so ends the story of this man...under minding my plan all along." The man said with a heavy Spanish accent. He turned around and made his way through the door they came in from. "Rest assured, Mr. Kennedy. I will have Salazar make sure you end the same way..." He paused, then turned around, staring straight at me and Isaac. "Be sure that I'll have a nice little surprise for the both of _you_." He said before walking out. The monks that were left behind began to advance on the three of us, Isaac and I quickly killing them while Leon tended to the dying Luis Sera. I watched the blonde from across the room while they exchanged words, before getting a call.

I backed away and answered. It was Kyle.

"Okay, we're home. I have a scan of the area and the castle. You're on floor 2. There are a lot of sub-levels and they're made to be like a huge maze, so be careful." I nodded to myself. "Where do you need to go?" He asked.

"Search the castle. Point me in the direction of any and all living biomasses. I'm going to find James." I stated with determination.

"You got it...you want me to give Natalie the same objective?" He asked. I contemplated it before turning to Isaac.

"Isaac...I'm going to go. I need to find my friend. You can stay, make sure Leon takes care of himself." I said, heading through one of the doors. He took a second to glance at Leon who had stood up and turned to the door the lavender cloaked man had disappeared in.

"No, I'm going with you. I owe that guy my life. Plus, I promised Ada I'd make sure you didn't get yourself killed." He replied, moving to me. He turned his head to Leon mid-stride and called out. "Yo, Leon! Be careful okay?" Leon nodded and disappeared through the door. I pressed the call button on my headset, Ada picking up almost immediately.

"Yes?" She cooed.

"Luis is dead. We saw it ourselves." I said simply.

"And the specimen he was holding?" She asked.

"The guy who killed him took it." I replied, pushing through the double doors and putting bullets into the bodies of the zealots who happened to be in the room at the time. I rolled out of the way of a flaming arrow headed for my heart, drawing my guns mid-roll. I recovered from the roll onto my knees and opened fire, the Punisher punching holes through the zealots and dropping them like flies. Isaac was pushing through the group, a trail of blood igniting and catching the tails of the robes worn by the cloaked figures. I got back up onto my feet and holstered Kyle's gun, using my left hand to pull one of the prototype blades from my inner breast pocket.

I ran forward, putting bullets in the heads of the men I had passed, switching hands so that my right hand was holding the blade and my left was firing bullets at the slower robed figures. Suddenly a group of five zealots stood in my way, and my right hand was raised and ready to rip them apart. Once I was in range I swung down hard, the impossibly sharp blade running through the man's body like it was gelatine. The body dropped, split into two as I sliced diagonally through the torso of the next robed man in my way.

"Yen! Let's go!" I heard Isaac yell over the crashing explosions of gunfire. I nodded, then began to speed up. The light began to brighten, and things began to slow down. My arms began to move faster, slicing through another body, then another, and soon my path was clear of any obstacles. My perspective slowed to normal and I quickly ran to Isaac's side. The man had already broken a wooden door open for us to escape out of. We raced through it, slamming it shut and pushing a heavy drawer that was conveniently placed near the door to keep it shut. After the door was secure for a good few moments, Isaac and I ran down the corridor as Natalie and Kyle calmly gave us directions on where to go.

"Okay, once you turn the corner, there should be a set of doors. In the third door on your right there's a bunch of stairs that lead to the higher level. There are three biomasses on that floor." Kyle explained. We turned the corner, and froze. An entire group of zealots were staring us down. Isaac moved in front of me and spoke.

"Give me a flame grenade..." He commanded. I pulled my last one from my belt and handed it to him, the redhead pulling the pin and tossing it. It burst with a large cloud of fire and Isaac held out his hand, his teeth grinding as suddenly the fire seemed to concentrate and then shoot forward in a wall that covered the entire hall, incinerating the robed men and women instantly. The flames died down, and Isaac's energy seemed to taper as his shoulders went lax and he breathed heavily. I turned to him and saw a steady stream of blood drip from his nose while his eyes were bloodshot from exertion. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"You all right?" I asked. He gulped and wiped the blood from his nose, nodding. He took a step forward before wobbling and stumbling. In an instant I was beside him, supporting his weight and moving him forward. "Easy there. Almost took a topple. I take it you're not used to using that much mental energy?" I said, the two of us slowly making our way to the third door on the right. He let out a breath of exhaustion.

"I've never had to control that much flame before." He put a hand to his head, steadying it for himself. "Oh...headache...think I need a little rest..." He warbled, before falling unconscious. I rolled my eyes and smiled, entering the staircase and going up the stairs. I carried the slightly shorter male to the landing and sat him down with his back against the wall, his torso rising up and down as he slept. I sat down beside him, staring out the window in silence. I could very well be losing another friend as we sat here. I could just go on without Isaac and try to find James. He could find me as long as Natalie was guiding him. Could I leave him here? Could I?

James could very well be dead by now. That thought seemed to sprint through my brain, screaming at me over and over. He could be dead, he could be dead. The other side of the argument seemed so valid as well. I need to know. I need to see it for myself. I need to see, either way. I didn't want to be left in the dark again. Not this time. I turned to Isaac. I couldn't leave him, could I? Not after finding him again after six years. He was the only person from my past that I wanted to keep in my life now. My brothers and sisters, I could never reveal myself to them. It was too dangerous, too scary. Rejection from family was worse than death in my culture. My parents, I didn't feel it right to bring that much shock to them.

It was too much irony. A third of one of the _best_ trio of bounty hunters is afraid to tell his family he is still alive. Kristopher Xiao-Yen, the man who in the span of a night wiped out a rebel complex consisting of nearly three hundred people was scared of his own family of normal human beings. I was sought out as one of the strongest fighters in the world, and what terrified me the most was my own family. The thought was so pathetic that it seemed amusing and silly.

I huddled closer into my heavy raincoat, putting my hood over my head and folding my arms on my knees. I set my head on top of my arms, and began to fall into a cautious slumber until a drowsy voice hit my ears.

"I don't mind you going on ahead, Kris..." Isaac mumbled, his head lolling to the side and his eyes covered by his pale eyelids. I chuckled, then yawned and began to rest.

"I'm not going anywhere..." I whispered, more to myself than to the redhead and fell asleep.

* * *

I have to say I'm rather pleased by Kris' personality. I modeled it after my own, in certain ways. The reason I took so long to update is because of the fact that I like to go over my writing and change things and change things until I feel like it's perfect. Read and Review and tell me what you think. 


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